BV 
14501 



WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 



PJETY THE ONLY FOUNDATION 



TRUE AND SUBSTANTIAL JOY. 



BY REV. f: B. WATEUBURY, D. 0. 

AUTHOR OF "ADVICE TO A YOUNG CHRISTIAN," ETJ. 



"Rejoice in the Lord always/ 3 



AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

150 NASSAU -STREET, NEW YORK. 



3^ 






Entered a cording to the Act of Congress, in the year lcol, by Jarkd 
B. Waterbdby, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the South 
era Pi strict of the State of New York. 



Eight of pubhehing transferred to the American Tract Society, 



my 



&twy * '"** 



^ 

^ 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER I. 
Piety vindicated from the charge of gloom, . . < 7 

CHAPTER II. 
Piety gives more joy than it takes away, ..... 13 

CHAPTER III. 

The adaptation of religion to all the soul's desires, . . 19 

CHAPTER IV. 

The joy of true piety, 24 

CHAPTER V. 

Pious joy enjoined in the Scriptures, 29 

CHAPTER VI. 

The foundation of pious joy, 35 

CHAPTER VII. 

The joy of believing in God, .40 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Pious joy connected with proper conceptions of the divine 

character, , 45 

CHAPTER IX. 

The relation of pious joy to the doctrine of Providence, . 50 

CHAPTER X. 

The joy of salvation, 56 

CHAPTER XI. 

Joyful promises, 62 

CHAPTER XII. 

Joyful prospects, 68 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Obstructions to pious joy, ... 73 



4 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Constant contact with the world unfavorable to pious joy, ~8 

CHAPTER XV. 

The same subject continued, S3 

CHAPTER XVI. 
The pursuit of riches unfavorable to a Christian's hap- 
piness, 89 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Social and business pledges sometimes obstructions to a 

Christian's joy. — Social pledges, 95 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Business pledges, . . . 10 J 

CHAPTER XIX. 
The influence of light reading opposed to the progress ol 

piety, 107 

CHAPTER XX. 
The spirit of controversy opposed to the exercise of pious 

joy, H3 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Circumstances favorable to the promotion of pious joy, 119 

CHAPTER XXII. 

The useful Christian happy, 125 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

The joy of contentment, 130 

CHAPTER XXIV. 
Submission, 136 

CHAPTER XXV. 
Joy in death, 142 

CHAPTER XXVI. 
Conclusion, 149 



PREFACE, 



In this small volume an attempt is made to an- 
swer the question, " Who are the happy ?" Many 
who are ignorant of the nature of true religion, who 
have never personally experienced its joys or its 
consolations, entertain the idea that it wars against 
their felicity. Indeed, some go so far as to assert 
that religion actually makes its votaries gloomy. 

To repel this charge is the design of the first 
part of this treatise. If the reader have indulged 
such false and absurd notions, the perusal of these 
pages, it is hoped, will convince him of his error, 
and disclose to him the fact that piety is the only 
foundation of true and substantial joy. 

Another part of the work is adapted more espe- 
cially to a class of young professors of religion, who, 
in the present day, are peculiarly exposed to be 
drawn aside from the path of Christian duty by 
temptations addressed to their cupidity, their curi- 
osity, and their love of excitement. If the writer 
shall have succeeded in warning such against the 
evils which threaten, or in fortifying them under 



6 PREFACE 

the actual assault, it will afford him the most heart- 
felt satisfaction. 

An eminent minister once said, that " some per- 
sons have just religion enough to make them mis- 
erable. " The object of this treatise, on the con- 
trary, is to urge its readers to seek for those attain- 
ments in piety which shall be not only a solace 
under the trials of life, but which shall make their 
felicity sure, and place it on a foundation which 
can never be disturbed. j. b. w. 



WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 



CHAPTER I. 

PIETY VINDICATED FROM THE CHARGE OF G-LOOM. 

" Religion makes men gloomy," says the thought* 
less votary of the world'. This allegation, if true, 
would be at least a plausible ground of prejudice 
against true piety ; but it is made, as we shall see, 
without proper discrimination respecting its nature 
and influence. 

He who brings this charge, judges merely from 
the serious expression of countenance which many 
professors of religion wear, and from the voluntary 
relinquishments of the gayeties of life which is 
observed to take place when they unite with the 
church of God. No estimation is made of the 
grand equivalent which piety gives for the renun- 
ciation of such vanities. Men look only at the 
cross. They take their views from the self-denial 
and the labors which he who bears it is called upon 
to meet. They have no standard by which to 
judge but their own experience, or rather, they 



8 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

seem not to adopt any other ; and finding their 
own joy, and, we may add, their only joy, to be 
inseparable from the pleasures and the honors of 
the world, they conclude, that he who for the 
sake of religion voluntarily foregoes them, must 
of necessity be condemned to a life of despondency 
and gloom. 

But has it never occurred to those who bring 
this charge, that since they have not themselves 
made a practical experiment of the influence of 
piety, they are not properly qualified judges in the 
case ? By the laws of God we are permitted to seek 
the highest amount of true and permanent felicity 
of which our nature is susceptible. Does this true 
and enduring happiness lie in the path of the pleas- 
urist and the worldling ? Then would the Chris- 
tian be unwise for travelling out of it. He would 
be warranted, it might almost be said, in retracing 
his steps- -in hastening away from a region where, 
according to the supposition, no sunlight falls upon 
his path, nor fragrant flower blooms to enliven it ; 
but where every step is planted with thorns to 
pierce his feet as he explores his melancholy way 
through the world. 

While such is the picture of a life of piety which 
fills the imagination of the gay world, their own 
path, they would have us understand, is one per- 
petual series of delights. It is implied in their 



PIETY NOT GLOOMY. 9 

allegation, that no shadows fall around their para- 
dise, nor a thorn obtrudes from that bed of roses on 
which they profess to recline. We shall not stop 
here to settle the question how far these scenes are 
a mere fancy sketch, nor at present disallow the 
claim to happiness which the pleasurist and world- 
ling prefer. If they can, in the sincerity of their 
souls, affirm that these pleasures make them as 
happy as they desire to be, we shall not just now 
put any questions, nor make any appeals with a 
view to overshadow so agreeable a prospect. 

The aim of the writer is rather to vindicate piety 
from an unjust aspersion, namely, that she robes her 
followers in gloom and sadness. That she makes 
them seriates, we do not deny ; but there is a wide 
difference between sobriety and melancholy. So- 
briety is not' opposed to cheerfulness, though it is to 
levity. Cheerfulness abounds everywhere in the 
works of God, but levity nowhere, except in the 
bosom and on the countenance of the thoughtless ; 
and there, it is not the legitimate expression of God's 
image, but the evidence and the effervescence of 
sin. The lark is cheerful, as it mounts from its. 
grassy nest, and singing soars away to the heavens. 
Cheerful also is the summer morning, revealing its 
glad scenery, as the rising sun gilds one feature 
after another of the landscape. Nature in all this 
has a lesson for man. She seems to teach him 



10 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

that piety, in inculcating cheerfulness while she 
rehukes levity, responds to her own emphatic in- 
structions. 

They mistake, depend upon it, who interpret a 
serious face as the index of a heavy heart. It is 
excessive mirth that leaves the heart sad ; since, 
in this latter case, the depression which invariably 
succeeds, is but the repayment which nature de- 
mands for violence done to her moral powers. We 
might enlarge on this point, and show that the 
perpetual draft which the pleasurist makes on the 
excitability of the physical constitution is directly 
adverse to happiness, if not destructive of health ; 
and, on the other hand, we could easily make it 
appear that the serenity and composure of the Chris- 
tian are in unison with the physical improvement 
as well as the moral condition of man. It might 
in this way be proved, that upon striking the balance 
of mere physical happiness between the serious 
Christian and the gay, unthinking child of levity, 
there would be a decided advantage in favor of the 
former. 

Thus it appears that piety is not to be blamed 
for making her friends and followers serious, if 
thereby she make them happier. Let her not again 
be accused of making them gloomy. Religion make 
the soul gloomy ! There is nothing but this in the 
wide universe which can really dispel its gloom. 



PIETY NOT GLOOMY. 11 

If the heart be heavy and sad from the burden ol 
temporal affliction, or from the pressure of conscious 
guilt, where can it find a remedy but in religion ? 
You may take that burdened heart to the haunts 
of pleasure, and try to enliven it by sallies of wit, 
by the fascinations of beauty, or by the excitement 
of the revel. Vain will be your attempt. You are 
not allaying, you are only aggravating the disorder. 
There is but one influence which can effectually 
reach and relieve that heart, or drive from that 
anxious countenance its look of deep despondency. 
Religion can do it. It is her province alone to 
medicate the wounds of our disordered nature, and 
to send the glow of spiritual health through the 
soul. And when she comes to perform her work 
of love and mercy, she first, like her great Author, 
enters the polluted temple of the heart, and with a 
scourge drives out the intruder, and then conse- 
crates it by her presence and illuminates it by her 
own heavenly smile. 

Something, it is true, must be allowed for the 
varying temperaments upon which piety exerts its 
influence. The constitutionally lethargic man may 
not exhibit his piety in so alluring a light as one 
who by nature possesses a mirthful and elastic 
mind. But even in the former, a close observer 
will discover an attractive gleam which the Sun of 
righteousness has flung upon the native dulness of 



12 WHO ARE THE HAPPYT 

the character ; while in the latter, the excessive 
buoyancy is chastened into a reasonable and happy 
flow of spirits. But in all, the influence of piety 
is to spread cheerfulness over the soul ; and by 
giving it the hopes and prospects of heaven, to 
introduce into it some of its anticipated joys. 



PIETY INCREASES HAPPINESS. 13 

CHAPTER II. 

PIETY GIVES MORE JOYS THAN IT TAKES AWAY 

Not to enlarge on the unreasonableness of expect- 
ing that in every case piety will so alter the naturaJ 
disposition as to make the melancholy invariably 
cheerful, and reduce the diversified temperaments 
of men to one uniform tone, we may now consider 
another point connected with the charge that " relig- 
ion makes its possessors gloomy," namely, that it 
requires them to forsake the pleasures and gayeties 
of the world. 

By these pleasures is meant the ordinary worldly 
amusements which, w r ith almost common consent, 
Christians have felt it their duty to relinquish. 
Some professors whose belief and practice are not 
intended to be very strict, have, we know, mingled 
unscrupulously in such scenes, and partaken of such 
pleasures. But we are now speaking of the truly 
pious, of those whose religion not only forbids, but 
powerfully dissuades from their indulgence. In this 
latter case, the relinquishment is not a forced but 
a voluntary act. It is not so much the coercion of 
stern duty as the sweet constraint of an honest, 
heart-felt preference of better things. This is plac- 
ing the subject in its true light ; and in this way 



14 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

we maintain that piety gives more joys than it 
takes away. 

It is not the intention of the writer to assert, 
that there is no felicity whatever in the pleasures 
which a gay and thoughtless world have planned 
and are pursuing ; for if there were none, why 
should they be sought, and why are they con- 
tinued ? The aim of all is to secure in some 
form that happiness which the soul of man natu- 
rally craves. It is with the hope of satisfying this 
desire of the heart, that the invention is tasked to 
furnish a sufficient variety of social and animal 
gratifications whereby the mind may be excited 
and its depressing thoughts and anxieties driven 
away. In part the plan is successful. There is a 
certain amount of pleasure experienced in the antici- 
pation and enjoyment of these things, although the 
most eager votary, it is probable, would confess that 
there is not so much real felicity as the inexperi- 
enced generally imagine. But in this case the heart 
has never tasted purer and more soul-satisfying 
delights. The round of social festivity and amuse- 
ment is the only circle in which it has revolved ; 
and these artificial pleasures are the only or the 
principal ones which it has been taught to covet 
and appropriate. 

Now, how impossible, that one schooled only in 
these entertainments should be able to form a cor- 



PIETY INCREASES HAPPINESS. 15 

rect judgment of the pleasures of true piety, since 
the latter have not only never been enjoyed, but are 
of a nature so different from those which have been 
alluded to. It is as if you were to ask a native 
of the frozen zone, who had never been out cf 
sight of the eternal snows which mantle those 
repulsive regions, for an opinion of the warmer 
climes where nature is so lavish of her chaims. 
He might expatiate on the attractions of his own 
home, and talk of its superiority to all other scunes ; 
and he might recoil at the idea of a transfer to a 
more genial region ; but surely, if his foot never 
trod the flowery path of the tropics, he would be a 
very inadequate judge of the bright suns and fra- 
grant beauties which their inhabitants experience. 

Without denying to the pleasurist some of the 
felicity which he claims — alas, how inadequate !— . 
we ask him to correct his judgment as to the hap- 
piness of the pious ; no longer to fling upon relig- 
ion the unjust charge that she is the cause of gloom , 
nor to suppose that, because she calls us from the 
region which he occupies to one more salubrious and 
cheering, she thereby cuts us off from the felicities 
of life. 

But suppose even that piety abridged its disciples 
of every earthly pleasure, arid gave them only a 
cup of suffering, still it might with reason be main- 
tained, that in view of her eternal rewards, the 



16 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

disciple would be infinitely the gainer. Such «**s, 
in a great degree, the case with the primitive Chris- 
tians. But no gloom or despondency hung around 
their brows. One of them could exclaim, " I glory 
in infirmity." In view of heavy afflictions he could 
Bay, " I do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice." The 
point before us is, that piety gives more joys and 
purer, than she takes away. We hope in the course 
of our remarks this will appear ; and while it may 
be our duty to expose the unworthy compromise with 
the world which some professors of religion are 
attempting to make, we shall aim to show that 
there is nothing in piety to curtail our true felicity ; 
but, on the contrary, that she bestows a glorious 
equivalent for all the self-denials which she lays 
upon her disciples. Too often is this feature of 
our religion overlooked, and hence the incorrect 
judgment which is sometimes formed of its influence 
upon the happiness of man. 

Religion is viewed by the unreflecting son and 
daughter of pleasure, as a stern and forbidding 
monster, who wears an iron visage, and holds in 
his hand a rod of anger ; who comes to wither 
every rational enjoyment, and to condemn the heart 
to a state of isolated misery. How unworthy are 
such impressions of that system of mercy which God 
has devised to heal the sorrows and to cleanse the 
pollution of the soul. But let the heart once feel 



PIETY INCREASES HAPPINESS. 17 

the power of divine grace, and this imagin ary mon- 
ster is quickly transformed into a real seraph, yes, 
a celestial visitant robed in purity, and dignified 
with more than angel majesty. Her smile is the 
sunshine of the soul. Her voice is the music of 
heaven. She comes not to abridge, but to enlarge 
the sphere of human felicity. For the joys she in- 
terdicts she tenders others a thousand-fold more pure 
and elevating. Communion with her makes the 
heart sick of all inferior beauty. It has henceforth 
lost in a great measure its relish for the low and 
transient delights of the sensual and the gay. After 
having tasted of so pure a fountain, why, indeed, 
should it turn back to quaff the muddy and turbu- 
lent streams of earth ? Why, after a glimpse of 
celestial glories, should it be interested in the arti- 
ficial and unsatisfying round of this world's amuse- 
ments ? 

No ; piety takes nothing away that is worth re- 
taining, nor does she withhold what is desirable 
and necessary. She alloAvs every pleasure that is 
consistent with the good of our immortal nature ; 
with her self-denials, even with the cross which she 
imposes, she connects a felicity which her sincere 
and faithful followers alone can understand and 
appreciate. " Her ways," says Solomon, " are ways 
of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." Deny 
this who may, they know it to be true who have 

Who are Happy I 2 



18 WHO AEE THE HAPPY? 

walked in her ways and gathered along their bright 
path the spiritual joys which she has furnished to 
the pilgrim. 

"The joys that fade are not for i;:e ; 
I seek immortal joys above : 
There, glory without end shall be 
The bright reward of faith and love." 



RELIGION SATISFIES THE SOUL. 19 



CHAPTER III. 

RELIGION ADAPTED TO THE SOUL'S DESIRES. 

Man may be said to possess four classes of desires, 
comprehended under the terms, animal, social, intel- 
lectual, and moral. 

The animal desires he has in common witli the 
brute creation. These may be satisfied independent 
of religion ; but they are to be under her control, 
or they become inordinate and therefore sinful. In 
dulged beyond the boundaries which she has fixed, 
they are the occasion of guilt and misery. Hence, 
religion is all-important to restrain and guide these 
passions, so that they may not consume their victim 
by the intensity of their flame. 

The social desires can be gratified without relig- 
ion ; but never, as it appears to the writer, can they, 
without its influence, be the source of all that hap- 
piness which they were designed to afford. There 
is much to mar the communion even of kindred 
minds where true piety is not the cementing bond. 
How often does envy prove the cause of coldness 
and alienation ; and how small a circumstance will 
at times imbitter and interrupt the intercourse which 
had been commenced under high anticipations of 
permanent friendship. Piety is a check to these 
intervening barrievs, and is ever ready not only to 



20 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

pweeten the fellowship of kindred minds, but to 
counteract the causes of dissatisfaction and aliena- 
tion. In her train comes charity, foremost of th& 
graces, who has a smile for every heart, and a tear 
for every fault, and a look of generous forgiveness 
even when her laws have been violated. Besides, 
religion furnishes those pure, ennobling topics which 
awaken kindred feelings, and which become addi- 
tional ligatures to bind in closest affinity the souls of 
the pious. 

The pleasures also of the intellect maybe enjoyed 
without piety. In the varied field of investigation 
which God has spread out to man, every taste may 
be indulged, and every faculty of the mind em- 
ployed and strengthened. Philosophy we know has 
walked abroad over this scene of wonders, and 
culled a thousand gems to adorn and to dignify 
the mind of man. Poetry has explored every vale, 
ascended every mountain height, winged her flight 
to the visible heavens, plunged into ocean's bed, 
penetrated nature's solitudes, left no spot unvisited, 
in order to string her lyre with sweet chords that 
should thrill on the soul's deep feelings. But who 
does not see, that if religion be excluded from all 
connection with such pleasures and pursuits, they 
must lose much of the relish which they would 
otherwise possess ? The intellect is too closely re- 
lated to the moral powers to operate with its full 



RELIGION SATISFIES THE SOUL. 21 

force, and to communicate by its exercise the highest 
good, while that relation is unacknmvledged. If, 
as Dr. Young observes, " an undevout astronomer is 
mad," surely an atheist poet, or one whose muse 
never lifts her eye beyond earth's narrow bounds, 
is no less so. But piety has spread wide her treas- 
ures for the inquisitive mind ; and he who refuses 
to examine them, must lose a rich harvest of intel- 
lectual pleasure. 

There is a fourth class of desires which we call 
moral, or perhaps they may more properly be termed 
immortal desires. Now we ask, What provision is 
made for their gratification ? 

The world has aliment for the animal desires; 
all nature is ransacked to administer to their indul- 
gence. Even the laws of God are trampled upon in 
order to " sow to the flesh." The pampered appetite, 
like a spoiled child, is asked what new variety can 
now be furnished to suit its capricious longings. 

The world has also cultivated the social affec- 
tions, and made a liberal provision for their gratifi- 
cation. What ceaseless rounds of amusement ! What 
crowded assemblies ! What exciting collision of 
wit and repartee ! How has the human invention 
been tasked to produce new forms of social inter- 
course, by which men of varying tastes may mingle 
with some hope of reciprocal pleasure ! 

Nor have men been neglectful of the intellect 



22 WHO ARE THE HATTY? 

In every department of taste and of learning, multi- 
tudes are found whose pleasures rise above those 
just named ; for we hold that next to the moral 
affections, the improvement of the intellect is the 
purest source of human felicity. 

But one class of desires still remains — the moral 
or immortal desires; and we again ask, Has the 
world made any provision for them ? No man but 
an atheist will deny to us the possession of such 
desires ; nor can any with reason deny that they 
are the most important, if not the most importu- 
nate of our wants. The highest glory of man is 
not that he is an animal, and therefore his highest 
pleasure cannot lie in the gratification of the senses. 
Nor is it his highest dignity that he is a social 
being, for even the brute creation are, in a sense, 
assimilated to him in this respect ; nor even that 
he has an intellect capable of enjoying the pursuits 
of science. No, his highest dignity and glory con- 
sist in his moral nature ; and his most important 
wants are those which respect immortality. And 
yet it is a melancholy fact, that no provision is 
made by the world for this class of desires ; but, 
on the contrary, every expedient is adopted to thwart 
and to suppress them. Here is certainly a great 
deficiency. One part of our nature, and that con- 
fessedly the most important, is, in the general pro- 
vision of the world for human happiness, entirely 



RELIGION SATISFIES THE SOUL. 23 

overlooked and neglected. No wonder man is not 
happy in the indulgence of his passions, that even 
social bliss meets not his large desires, and intellec- 
tual pursuits still leave him craving after some- 
thing else. It is the voice of nature, complaining 
that her noblest aspirations are unheeded; and tak- 
ing retribution for the neglect by withholding that 
satisfaction which the sinner is striving in vain to 
secure. Ye men of the world, ye sons and daugh- 
ters of pleasure, look at this deficiency in your 
arrangements, and know that until it is supplied 
you cannot be at peace. Now the Christian has 
this advantage over you, that while piety permits 
him to enjoy all the pleasures of sense that are 
lawful, and social felicity, and intellectual pursuits, 
and enhances even these sources of good to man, 
ahe also gives him the bread of life for the soul. 
The immortal desires more than all others she 
meets with the requisite aliment. Is this no advan- 
tage ; and are these joys of the spirit no increase 
in the general average of human felicity ? Ah. in 
the language of Cowper, Christians can say, 

" From thee is all that soothes the life of man ; 
His high endeavor, and his glad success, 
His strength to suffer, and his will to serve. 
But 0, thou bounteous Giver of all good, 
Thou art of all thy gifts thyself the crown ! 
Give what thou canst, without thee we are poor; 
And with thee rich, take what thou wdt *way. n 



24 WHO ARE THE HAPPY ? 

CHAPTER IV. 

THE JOY OF TRUE PIETY. 

Enough has been said, we trust, to rescue true 
piety from the aspersion so often cast upon it, that 
it produces gloom and despondency. We hope that 
none of our readers will again indulge such a 
thought ; but if they discover in the countenance or 
conduct of its professors any thing of this nature, 
they will refer it to the influence of something else 
besides piety. It may be the individual tempera- 
ment, which by nature sad, is gradually assuming, 
under the influence of religion, a more cheerful 
tone ; or it may arise from some passing cloud which 
has temporarily overshadowed the believer's mind ; 
or, what is not uncommon, it may be a pensive and 
sorrowful feeling in view of the folly and madness of 
the careless, unthinking sinner. Impenitent reader, 
the gloom which you charge upon religion is often 
the outward sign of compassion for your soul. In- 
terpret that look aright. Ascribe it not to piety, 
except as she teaches her followers to pity the lost. 

We shall attempt in the subsequent pages to lay 
open the sources of joy and felicity which the 
believer possesses, and endeavor to show, that if a 
Christian is not happy, it is from no deficiency in the 



JOY OF TRUE PIETY. 25 

provision, nor in the means of obtaining it. We shall 
take as our motto the exhortation of the apostle, 
" Rejoice in the Lord always ; and again I say, 
rejoice." Here we are explicitly directed to be 
cheerful, happy, yea, even joyful. We are required 
to exhibit our religion under a pleasing aspect, to 
wear a smile even when others would weep, and to 
sing our song of triumph when others would sink in 
despair. Is piety, then, at war with nature ? no, 
she only sustains nature under the burdens which 
our apostate state has laid upon it. Religion forbids 
not the heart to melt for sorrows felt or witnessed. 
The tears that dropped into the grave of Lazarus 
affirm this. But the sympathies of the man only 
set off to the more advantage the moral support of 
the Christian; and while nature is dissolved in 
grief, piety is near to wipe the falling tear, and 
throw around the soul her all-supporting arms. 
There is no stoicism in religion. But her joy is 
calm, not boisterous ; and her sympathies deep in 
proportion to the real amount of suffering experi- 
enced or anticipated. 

Nevertheless, it is the duty of all true Christians 
to evince to the world that their religion has taken 
off from the soul the garments of mourning, and 
clothed it in the spirit of gladness. How little of 
this rejoicing has been heard in the tabernacles of 
the righteous. How few Christians have felt that 



26 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

the apostle's exhortation comes to them with any 
thing like an imperative obligation personally to 
rejoice. Hence it is not surprising that the notion 
has obtained among the irreligious that Christians 
are gloomy ; and now, if we would wipe off from 
piety this aspersion, we must put on a new aspect, 
and give vent to our religious feelings in songs of 
praise and thanksgiving. But mark, Christian 
reader, we are not in favor of a forced or artificial 
joy. If our joy is in God, and is the natural efflux 
of pious emotion, it will then give a right impres- 
sion, and be admitted to come from a divine source. 
It appears evident that piety, to have its full 
effect upon the world, must come forth to the eyes 
of men with more of its joyous spirit. By this we 
do not mean that it must relax one iota of its strict- 
ness, nor subtract one particle from the weight of 
that cross which it imposes. It is not our aim to 
exchange its cheerfulness for levity, nor its absti- 
nence from worldly gayeties for a participation in 
them. Its joy then would not surely be in God. 
But we intend to urge the importance of having 
the soul so imbued with the love of God and man, 
so settled in its own confidence of salvation, so 
full of heavenly hopes and anticipations, so dead 
to the world and so independent of its delights, that 
it shall wear something of a celestial air, and im- 
press men with both the reality and the purity of 



JOY OF TRUE PIETY 27 

its joy. In our day it seems, alas, as if this bright 
feature was but seldom fully developed. Where is 
to be found the happy Christian ? Where is the 
soul whose devotions partake more of the rapturous 
than the complaining spirit ? On ivhose face now 
beams the smile of gladness ? Who lives so near 
to heaven's bright regions as to have his features 
gilded with its reflected glories ? Surely religion 
is designed, and has the power thus to irradiate 
every soul on whom her influence falls. She comes 
from heaven, the region of felicity, to conduct the 
soul out of these " dismal deeps and dangerous 
snares," to fill it with joy unspeakable, and to guide 
it where no sorrows can ever be experienced. Who 
then should wear a brighter countenance than the 
Christian ? Who has a right to sing such exulting 
strains, or to indulge in such glorious anticipations ? 
With all due allowance for the varying tempera- 
ments of the pious, we still think that there is less 
Christian joy than the Bible warrants and even 
commands. 

Look at the example of the apostle Paul, who, 
though pressed with more care and encompassed 
with more infirmities than any of his pious col- 
leagues, exhibited this joyous spirit throughout his 
whole Christian coarse. I will challenge the gayest 
child of vanity to a comparison with hiin. View 
him when and where you will, he is the same buoy- 



28 WHO ARE THE HAPPY' 

ant and happy saint, whose deep, ardent piety, like 
a talisman, doubles every joy, and converts even 
the occasions of sorrow into seasons of spiritual tri- 
umph. " Rejoicing in tribulation" was one of his 
mottos. What says earth's votary to this ? The 
worldling can be happy when all goes well with 
him. He can exult amid the prosperities of life ; 
but cast him with the apostle into Philippi's dun- 
geon, or place him at Nero's bloody tribunal, and 
see if his joy will hold out there 

Piety has other signal triumphs to name. We 
may, even in our day, point to a Legh Richmond, 
whose soul for the most part sent forth notes " cheer- 
ful as the bird of morning ;" or to Hannah More, 
whose natural gayety of temper, sanctified by emi- 
nent piety, diffused around her a most attractive 
eharm. Her example, were there no other, should 
wipe away for ever two very unjust charges some- 
times brought against piety, namely, that it influ- 
ences only weak minds, and overshadows the sou] 
with gloom A,nd despondency 



PIOUS JOY ENJOINED. 29 

CHAPTER V. 

PIOUS JOY ENJOINED IN THE SCRIPTURES. 

As the writer is addressing principally professing 
Christians, it is proper to inquire of them if they 
have ever considered the numerous calls and com- 
mands from Scripture to the exercise of pious joy? 
It must have occurred to every reader of the Bible 
how often this duty is inculcated ; and it must have 
rather puzzled him to find among all his Christian 
acquaintance so partial a compliance. 

In its very name, the religion of the gospel is 
good tidings of great joy. All its promises and 
prospects are gladdening to the soul. Every fea- 
ture is radiant with heaven's brightness. The 
highly figurative descriptions of it given us in scrip- 
ture all represent its joyous tendency. It is a foun- 
tain opened for the way-worn and thirsty traveller, 
and mercy's angel seems to stand at its brink, cry- 
ing, " Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the 
waters." Nor is this fountain unsealed merely to 
refresh the soul, it is also designed as a healing 
Btream. Judah and Jerusalem are invited to come 
and wash away their pollution in its purifying flood. 
How strongly speak these figures of the joyous char- 
acter of the gospel Fully to appreciate them, we 



30 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

must go pitch our tent with the Arab in the desert, 
whose parched lips have just touched the long- 
sought stream ; or creep with the half-decayed 
leper to the pool of Bethesda, where his foul dis- 
order can be healed. 

It is called "the day-spring from on high," than 
which no symbol could be more lovely or cheering. 
It is termed the " light to them that sit in dark- 
ness ;" it is the " opening of the prison doors to 
them that are bound." It is " life from the dead." 
It is "joy unspeakable and full of glory." How 
rich is the Scripture in imagery setting forth the 
gladdening influence of piety. It is natural, then, 
to look for this effect, wherever it is experienced ; 
and it is no forced inference to say, that all these 
figures imply, if they do not enjoin, the exercise of 
pious joy. 

I have alluded to Paul as a fine specimen of the 
uniformly cheerful saint. I will join with him one 
whose experience was not perhaps so uniform, but 
whose pious joys rose occasionally, if not constantly, 
quite as high. I mean the psalmist David. There 
may have been something in the temperament of 
David, on which religion acted with a peculiar and 
impressive gracefulness. Judging from the account 
given us of his early life, we should very, naturally 
conclude this to be the case. How lovely is his 
deportment when first introduced to the notice, and 



PIOUS JOY ENJOINED. 31 

taken under the patronage of Saul. What strength 
of affection did he manifest towards Jonathan ! He 
had evidently, too, a soul attuned to the contempla- 
tion of nature. He was trained amid her glorious 
works, and learned to sing, with a poet's exulta- 
tion, of her beauties and her wonders. But all 
these traits, which nature had so amply supplied 
and adjusted, were sanctified by religion, and were 
wholly enlisted in her service. From such a one, 
I admit, we might expect a more than ordinary 
amount of Christian cheerfulness. If we judge his 
emotions by the devotional strains which he has 
indited, we shall say that he excels all others in 
the rapturous and even sublime joy which, for the 
most part, he evinces. " My soul shall make her 
boast in the Lord : the humble shall hear thereof 
and be glad. 0, magnify the Lord with me, and 
let us exalt his name together." " I will rejoice in 
thy salvation." Nor was he satisfied with express- 
ing in such elevated strains his oivn gladness of 
heart, but he calls upon others to join in this de- 
lightful work. " Rejoice in the Lord, ye right- 
eous, for praise is comely for the upright." " Let 
them that love thy name be joyful in thee." " Let 
the children of Zion be joyful in their King." And 
when he has enlisted the voice and tongue of Zion's 
children, he next invokes inanimate nature to unite 
in the general concert of praise. " Let the sea 



32 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they 
that dwell therein. Let the floods clap their 
hands : let the hills he joyful together before the 
Lord." 

It is true, a plaintive and sometimes even a 
deeply desponding tone is exhibited in the Psalms, 
but the general tenor is that of confidence and of 
joy. Even where, in some instances, the writer 
commences in a mournful strain, ere his song is 
ended the sentiment changes to one of heavenly 
rapture. 

With respect to David it may then be said, he 
lived, for the most part, in a happy frame ; and 
that his joy was derived from, and was connected 
with the love and service of God. 

Other instances of a uniformly joyful frame 
might be gathered from scripture, and also from 
among Christians in modern times ; but I would 
ask the reader to look at a few passages of the 
Bible setting forth the duty of manifesting a cheer- 
ful, happy temper, as the legitimate effect of true 
piety. 

The Scriptures are so full of exhortations of this 
nature that I scarcely know where to select. In 
the book of Chronicles, Israel is commanded to 
"glory in God's holy name;" and it is added, "let 
the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord." In 
Deuteronomy it is said, " Ye shall rejoice before 



PIOUS JOY ENJOINED. 33 

the Lord your God." Says the prophet Joel, " Ye 
children of Zion, rejoice in the Lord." Paul has 
numerous exhortations to rejoice. In closing his 
epistle to the Philippians he says, " Finally, my 
brethren, rejoice in the Lord." " Rejoice in the 
Lord always ; and again I say, Rejoice." 

These examples and quotations make it plain 
that the truly pious are not only authorized to put 
on the air of gladness, but are required as the re- 
deemed of the Lord to manifest this spirit before 
the world. Every thing in the visible universe 
calls the Christian to this duty. Nature, by audible 
and inaudible strains, should provoke us to the 
manifestation of our joy. The flower that has 
slept beneath the dews of the night lifts up its 
head and seems to smile as the sunbeam of morn- 
ing falls upon it. The sky is bright and joyous 
after the dark cloud has rolled away, and count- 
less voices come to us from earth and air, whose 
cheerful accents tell us that if their joy be transient 
it is nevertheless sincere. Now, shall the Chris- 
tian, whose soul has wept sweeter tears than the 
dews of the night, and has been enlivened by a 
brighter beam than the morning ray, shall he refuse 
to look glad? Shall he from whose prospects the 
dark cloid of God's anger has passed away for ever, 
give no sign of joyfulness ; nor, while listening 
with the ear of faith to the melodies of heaven, in 

Wh are Happy I 3 



34 WHO ARE THE HA1TY? 

which he hopes soon to unite, hegin the hallelujahs 
on this side of his eternal rest ? Shall the power 
of God awaken in the natural world such strains 
of joy ; and shall this great mercy be less influen- 
tial in filling the soul which it has blessed with 
the praises of its God? 



FOUNDATION OF PIOUS JOY. 35 

CHAPTER VI. 

THE FOUNDATION OF PIOUS JOY. 

Every effect has its cause ; and this principle is 
as applicable to the emotions of the soul as to the 
phenomena of the material world. If there be 
exercised a pious joy, it must have some source or 
origin. The apostle Paul has referred it to the true 
and legitimate cause. He says, " Rejoice in the 
Lord." The foundation, then, of pious joy is God, 
the infinite source of all true felicity. The numer- 
ous passages of Scripture already cited, especially 
those from the psalmist, evince the same truth. 
" Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous, and give thanks 
at the remembrance of his holiness." 

Pious joy is not confined to the ledeemed chil- 
dren of Adam, but is felt and manifested by all the 
holy. The good angels are no less exultant than 
the ransomed, who are associated with them in 
singing the hallelujahs of heaven. But the source 
of this gladness, both among angels and men, is the 
same. It is the great and glorious God. 

When Adam was created, and placed a pure 
being in the garden of Eden, we may suppose that 
as one of his first acts would be holy praise, so one 
of his first emotions would be pious joy. But if we 



SO WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

imagine that his joy came simply or principally 
from the fragrant beauties which surrounded him, 
we are greatly mistaken. Such a conception would 
not be in harmony with the character of God his 
Creator, nor with the exalted and unsullied char- 
acter of Adam. His outward circumstances en- 
hanced, doubtless, his happiness ; but this effect 
they had as media, through which to trace the wis- 
dom and goodness of God. We should infer from 
the scripture account of our first parents, that 
while their occupation was to dress and to keep 
this earthly paradise, their purest and noblest satis* 
faction consisted in intimate communion with God. 
Earth was then but one form of heaven, adapted 
indeed to the compound nature of man, but varying 
not from heaven in the essentials of its happiness, 
nor obstructing as now a free and familiar inter- 
course with Jehovah. Hence, we find the Almighty 
conversing with Adam as one converses with his 
friend ; giving out his commands, promising his 
favors, and affording the blissful light of his coun- 
tenance. " In the cool of the day," by some pal- 
pable manifestation he made himself known to his 
new-created subjects, and filled their souls with 
"joy unspeakable." It was doubtless to this glad 
hour that our first parents daily looked with most 
delightful anticipations, and in it felt their purest 
rapture. But Eden was no longer bright or beau- 



FOUNDATION OF PIOUS JOY. 37 

tifiil when that hour became a season of dread, 
and the guilty pair shrunk from the well-known 
footsteps of their Creator. Their greatest happi- 
ness before their fall, was in God ; and their keenest 
misery after it, was, that they had " forsaken the 
fountain of living waters." Milton has put into 
the mouth of our maternal progenitor a very beau- 
tiful and touching lamentation over her lost para- 
dise. The poet, in this, has spoken the voice of 
nature ; but it is, alas, the voice of fallen nature, 
which is prone to be more touched by a deprivation 
of the gift than by any deep sense of the forfeited 
favor of the great Giver. 

Since that sad event which drove man away 
from his Maker, we have been striving to substi- 
tute some other foundation of felicity ; 'but never 
can true and substantial joy revisit the soul, until 
that soul regains its primitive portion, and finds its 
all in God. 

The remedial system which the gospel of our 
Lord Jesus Christ presents, has in view this very 
object : the restoration of the divine favor, whereby 
a permanent foundation is laid for human felicity. 
It is true, this blessed gospel does not propose to 
leplant literally another Eden, and to embower 
believers among its amaranthine shades ; but it 
does what is infinitely better, it places under the 
soul the original foundation of its joy; and by 



38 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

reclaiming it to God, gives it the prom'se and the 
prospect of a brighter paradise above. And now 
\vp may walk again with our Maker " in the cool 
of the day," in the evening hour of meditation, 01 
at any time which the soul may choose, and feel 
as real, if not as exuberant a joy as glowed in the 
hearts of Eden's unfallen occupants. We may now 
cast our eyes over the Creator's works, which, if 
disrobed of primeval loveliness, are still his works, 
and retain the signature of his hand in all their 
outspread beauties and sublimities. We may sur- 
vey these wonders, and rejoice in them as the 
manifest indications of his godhead. We are in- 
vited to come back from our unsatisfied wanderings, 
and to rebuild on the original foundation of all true 
joy and felicity. Ever since Adam was cast out of 
the consecrated garden, man has not known where 
to go for this pure and substantial joy. How many 
streams have been tasted in the hope of finding 
it ; how many countries have been explored ; what 
a variety of pleasures have been pursued ! But 
man is driven from the presence of God. This is 
the true secret of all his cares and sorrows. This 
explains the failure of his ten thousand experi- 
ments. ILntil he gets back to the presence of his 
God he lias no right to rejoice, and he has in fact 
no true foundation for joy. But Oh, what glad 
tidings are these that fall on the ear ! Methinks ] 



FOUNDATION OF PIOUS JOY. 39 

hear again the renewed congratulations of the angel 
band, assuring us that " the second Adam, the Lord 
from heaven," has come to conduct us back to our 
forfeited paradise ; or rather to reopen the celestial 
Eden, and acquire for us a title to its imperishable 
glories Now God will dwell again on earth, and 
the soul may find in him the broad foundation of 
peace and happiness. And who is this that turns 
aside the cherubic sword and allows us to pluck 
the immortal fruits, and breathe once more the 
atmosphere of heaven ? To whom are we so deeply 
indebted for the restoration of our joy ? Ah, reader, 
if you have never known this Friend of the help- 
less, this almighty Saviour, you cannot know what 
pure and perfect pleasure is. You have not yet 
touched the vital spring of human felicity. But if 
you know this Saviour, and feel him to be precious 
to your soul, you have found your way to the well- 
spring of life, and can " rejoice in the hope of t\ a 
glory of God." 

u Dearer, far dearer to my heart. 

Than all the joys that earth can give; 
tf'rom fame, from health, from friends I'd part, 
Beneath His countenance to live." 



40 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

CHAPTER VII. 

THE JOY OF BELIEVING IN GOD. 

Since the joy of the Christian has its foundation 
n God, the reader's attention may very properly 
he directed to some particular aspects in which 
this position is illustrated. 

The first which shall he noticed is a very simple 
one— the habitual and practical conviction of the 
divine existence. I am not disposed, in these pages, 
to enter into any formal argument against atheism, 
hut would remark simply, that while the avowed 
atheist is rarely to he met with, there is, among 
many who style themselves Christians, a vast deal 
of practical atheism. 

The effect, in this latter case, on the happiness 
of man, is very little less than where the disbelief 
of a God is openly avowed. If the soul is wholly 
absorbed from day to day, for a series of years, in 
the mere business or pleasures of the world, it is 
leading, so far, an atheistical life. The fact that 
no profession of this monstrous doctrine is made, 
abates but in a small degree the influence which 
the practice of it exerts over the moral affections. 
There is indeed this point of difference : in the one 
case the individual feels but little check upon an 
unrestrained indulgence of the evil passions, while 



♦JOY OF BELIEVING IN GOD. 41 

in the other there is the power of conscience strength- 
ening its rebukes by a vague impression of future 
retribution. 

Now we admit, that until the soul can have 
some reasonable hope that God is its friend and 
portion, the habitual conviction of the divine exist- 
ence can hardly be supposed to produce pleasure, 
much less joy. If the individual is conscious that 
his course of conduct is such as God would not 
approve ; or if his desires are such as he is unwill- 
ing to lay before the omniscient eye, it must be 
evident, that instead of finding in the idea of God's 
eternal existence any thing agreeable, it is the 
source of much disquiet and alarm. Hence it is 
said of such in the Scriptures, that " they desire not 
the knowledge of his ways." 

But while the idea of God is shut out intention- 
ally from the minds of those who may be termed 
practical atheists, whose attention is confined to 
the gifts, while it is impiously withdrawn from the 
Giver, the pious soul delights in the very thought 
of God, and finds in this grand fundamental fact a 
substantial foundation of joy. 

The conception of God, inadequate as it must of 
course be, even where the Bible has taught it, and , 
the Spirit has cleared the " mental ray," is never- 
theless one so well adapted to the soul's nature and 
desires, that it produces a powerful augmentation 



42 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? ♦ 

of its happiness. This, I repeat, is the case only 
where the soul has some reasonable hope that the 
great Creator has become reconciled to it through 
Jesus Christ. The truly pious, therefore, have, in 
the habitual conviction of the divine existence, a 
sublime and glorious conception lying before the 
mind at all times, and operating upon its powers 
to enlarge them, and upon its desires to purify and 
ennoble them. Here is an advantage in favor of 
piety which is not often contemplated. Other men 
may talk of their belief in God, but so long as they 
aim to keep this grand idea away from their thoughts, 
it does not exert even its natural effect to enlarge 
and ennoble the powers. The Christian is in the 
daily contemplation of this fact. The grand con- 
ception is operating perpetually, and must hence 
give dignity and compass to the soul's faculties, 
while at the same time the moral affections are 
awakened and purified. 

Every pious man delights in the idea of the 
divine existence. It not only enlarges but rejoices 
his heart. There is the accompanying conviction 
that God is his portion, his father, and his friend. 
This filial spirit abates the overpowering impression 
which so great a truth would otherwise exert, and 
enables him to mingle holy love with reverential 
fear. It is with the good man an habitual, pervad- 
ing impression. God is " in all his thoughts.' 1 



* JOY OF BELIEVING IN GOD. 43 

The universe is to him illuminated with the divine 
presence. He has lifted his contemplations above 
the region where they used to dwell, and finds 
himself searching for God in every event of life, 
and marking his footsteps in all the changes which 
take place in this mutable sphere. Who cannot 
see that such a thought must necessarily afford a 
ground of exultation to the Christian ? Let any 
mind now buried amid earth's low cares and pleas- 
ures, making all its calculations and laying all 
its plans without a recognition of God, or even a 
thought of his presence and government — let this 
mind come fully and habitually under the belief of 
a God, and begin to acknowledge him in all its 
v/ays, what a calm confidence will at once over- 
spread it, and how soon will it evince a dignity to 
which it was before a stranger. There is some- 
thing sublime in the idea of an ever-present, all- 
pervading God. It gives the soul that holds it a 
stability which no vicissitudes of earth can under- 
mine. It plants the feet upon a rock. It enables 
the devout man to sing and to rejoice even when 
the prospect is appalling. He goes forth, too, 
among the works of this great Creator, and holds 
converse with every thing which God has made 
Every such object has a tongue and a voice which 
ministers instruction to the soul. Where the poet 
sees only some fine combination in nature, he adds 



44 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

to it the vital breathings of the present and glo- 
rious God. While the philosopher exults in the 
newly discovered analysis, the Christian says, " Here 
is the finger of God." Multitudes, "with brute, 
unconscious gaze," are dwelling only on the in- 
trinsic value of nature's gifts : the contemplative 
Christian adds a new and moral charm by con- 
necting them with that hand which " openeth to 
satisfy the desire of every living thing." Is there 
no advantage in all this ? Has not the pious soul 
a greater and more sublime source of joy than those 
grovelling minds who, while they deny not the 
beinsf of God in words, do practically eject him 
from their thoughts. Atheistical conduct may exist 
where an atheistical creed is not adopted ; but to 
have a full perennial fountain of joy, we must have 
the habitual conviction that there is a God. that 
he is ever-present, and that he is our friend and 
portion 



JOY IN GOD'S CHARACTER. 45 



CHAPTER VIII. 

PIOUS JOY CONNECTED WITH PROPER CONCEPTIONS 
OF THE DIVINE CHARACTER. 

The good man rejoices, not only in the existence 
of God, but in his character as revealed in the 
Bible. Taught by the Holy Spirit through the 
medium of divine truth, his views of the Creator, 
though inadequate, are nevertheless correct. 

We may believe in a supreme Being, and yet so 
wide from the truth may be our views of his nature, 
attributes, and government, that the contemplation 
of him shall produce horror and dismay rather than 
pleasure. Such unworthy impressions of God are 
actually entertained in countries where the light of 
revelation is not enjoyed. The thought of God 
carries only terror to the soul, and his worshippers 
are employed in deprecating his anger rather than 
in supplicating his favor. The loveliest trait of tho 
divine character — if it be not irreverent to institute 
a comparison — his beneficence, is unknown, and he 
is considered as more disposed to injure than to bless 
his creatures. 

And even where men may know the true char- 
acter of God — where the Bible and the Sabbath 
and the sanctuary exist — very incorrect and un- 



46 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

worthy notions of him are entertained. Those " who 
obey not the gospel, know not God," With the 
means of informing themselves abundantly within 
their reach, they prefer to remain in ignorance; and 
all the impressions which they obtain of his char- 
acter, are such as come rather by the force of cir- 
cumstances than by any prayerful and diligent study 
of his word. 

The impenitent sinner, even when contemplating 
God, takes but a partial view of his character. Find- 
ing that he has levelled his denunciations against 
sin, and made ready his arrow against the workers 
of iniquity, he is led to view him only as a God of 
vengeance, and like the heathen, to associate with 
him the idea of malignity rather than benevolence. 
Hence, he is surprised that a Christian can have 
any joy in the contemplation of the Deity; and 
hence also, he strives to shut out the thought of God 
from his own mind. But here is clearly a very 
partial and incorrect notion of the Creator. 

It is true that God will punish the workers of 
iniquity who do not repent and trust for salvation 
in his Son Jesus Christ ; but is this any objection 
to his character ? Would you allege as an unworthy 
trait against a civil magistrate, that he caused the 
laws to be respected, and for their violation pun- 
ished the delinquent ? It might be shown that, on 
the principles of the strictest benevolence, it would 



JOY IN GOD'S CHARACTER. 47 

be necessary for God to do in this respect just as he 
has done. Now, what the unreflecting sinner calls 
severity in God, the Christian views as the essen- 
tial and all-important attribute of justice ; and so 
far from objecting to its existence or its exercise, 
he looks upon it as the pledge of security to the 
moral interests of the universe. He can and does 
rejoice in God as holy and just, as well as good. 

The views entertained of the divine beneficence 
by those who are not taught of God, are often very 
incorrect and unscriptural. Some make it wholly 
indiscriminate, alleging that it covers all the sins 
of all mankind, and in its ultimate action makes no 
difference " between him that serveth God and him 
that serveth him not." To exalt this trait, they 
merge another equally important, his justice. This 
is evidently a very distorted and erroneous view of 
the divine character. Some can see no goodness 
in God unless he heaps favors on themselves. The 
measure of his blessings to them is the rule by 
which they judge of the gracious acts of their Cre- 
ator ; not reflecting that according to the Bible, he 
may after all be giving them their good things only 
in this life. 

How much more comprehensive, as well as cor- 
rect and scriptural, are the views of the pious soul. 
His Bible teaches him that God is good, and that 
he doeth good, and that " his tender mercies are 



48 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

over all his works." He views him as benevolent, 
and as exerting his benevolence to make his crea- 
tures happy, yet not at the sacrifice of his justice 
and his truth. He considers the divine Being as 
acting on a great and comprehensive plan, in which, 
though temporal favors are given to men with ap- 
parent disregard to their moral character, yet all 
things are working together for the good of the 
pious ; while even temporal blessings are often so 
perverted and abused by the wicked, that they be- 
come at last the witnesses of God against them. 
To the eye of a Christian, God sits regent over all 
the universe, and conducts the affairs of his mighty 
empire with a view to promote his own glory. It 
is this enlarged conception which enables the Chris- 
tian to exult in the fact, that "the Lord God om- 
nipotent reigneth." Sovereignty is a glorious attri- 
bute of God. Wisdom to devise the best plans, and 
power omnipotent to secure their accomplishment, 
and this too without destroying the accountability 
of man, or lessening his dependence on divine aid, 
are the grand and mysterious features of that govern- 
ment instituted and administered by the Eternal 
One. Is there here no room for joy ? Has the soui 
no solid basis for praises in all this ? Have not 
these views a direct tendency to establish the heart 
in confidence, to make it feel that the temporary 
obstructions to the triumph of truth and virtue 



JOY IN GOD'S CHARACTER. 49 

will only, in the end, and under the jurisdiction of 
God, make that triumph the more complete and 
glorious ? 

To rejoice in God, we must view his character as 
it is revealed in his holy word — we must have 
affections in unison with it — we must feel that 
inward approbation and submission and love which 
result from the renewal of the Holy Ghost ; and 
then, not only shall we entertain right views of 
God, but the conception will act on the soul with 
a cheering, as well as a sanctifying influence. 



Wno nre Hup^f 



50 WHO ARE THE HAPPY T 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE RELATION OF PIOUS JOY TO THE DOCTRINE DF 
PROVIDENCE. 

The Bible teaches the doctrine of a particular 
p?'ovidence. " Not a sparrow," says Jesus, " shall 
fall on the ground without your Father ;" and 
" even the very hairs of your head are all num- 
bered." " The steps of a good man," says another, 
" are ordered by the Lord." This doctrine is, by 
the pious man, not only believed, but practically 
recognized in all the business and events of life ; 
and it is this practical recognition alone that con- 
stitutes it a foundation of joy. 

How many are there who do not sympathize 
in the least with this view of divine providence. 
They are willing to install the great Creator on the 
universal throne, and pay him the homage due to 
a distant and comparatively uninterested monarch 
too lofty to stoop to the affairs of men, and too 
much absorbed in his vast empire above, to inter 
fere in the ^Oiicerns of this diminutive sphere. 
Hence, we hear so much of chance, of fortune, oi 
second causes, and so little of the divine hand, in 
the vicissitudes of nations and of individuals. 

But what say ye, who thus think and act, to the 



JOY IN GOD^S PROVIDENCE. 51 

view which our Saviour gives us ? The bird that 
folds its wing and falls to the earth, or that is 
arrested by the archer's arrow and drops bleeding 
to the ground, is directed in its fall by the hand of 
God. Yea, even the hairs of our head, insignificant 
as they may singly seem, are still noticed and num- 
bered by the Almighty. Not a step that we take, 
nor a purpose that we accomplish, do we take or 
accomplish independent of him. What say ye to 
this view of a divine providence ? This is the view 
that brings God near ; that acknowledges his hand 
in the minutest affairs of life, and yet derogates not 
from his dignity as the maker and mover of the 
spheres. He who lighted up the sun, formed the 
moth that bathes its beauteous wing in the bright 
sunbeam ; and that insect existence as truly de- 
monstrates the infinitude of his power, as does 
the great fountain of light in whose radiance it 
rejoices. 

The pious mind embraces this scriptural doctrine 
of a particular providence, and finds it both con- 
solatory and encouraging. In all that relates to 
the external world — its physical changes, and its 
great moral and political events — the good man is 
busy in interpreting the will of God. Where other 
men are prying into second causes, and noticing 
their influence alone, he traces the finger of Provi- 
dence operating through these causes in the pro- 



52 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

duction of the highest good. Here, his advantage 
must be conceded in having, above others, his 
heart fixed on the great First Cause, whose fiat 
is the law of the universe, and whose power, wis- 
dom, and goodness, are pledges for the rectitude of 
his government. Let then the clouds rise ever so 
dark and disastrous ; "let the sea roar, and the 
mountains shake with the swelling thereof," he 
can sit calm amid the scene, and sing of Him 
who, though " clouds and darkness be round about 
him," makes "justice and judgment the habitation 
of his throne." 

But it is in view more especially of his own pri- 
vate history that the Christian finds this idea of a 
particular providence so productive of joy. From 
his infancy onward he sees and acknowledges the 
hand of his heavenly Father. He turns back to 
the first page of his earthly existence, and loves to 
read a lesson of gratitude in the parents whose 
affectionate looks awakened the first infant smile. 
He marks a hand divine thrown around him during 
the reckless period of youth, and pointing out his 
path as he emerged from youth into manhood. 
Even disappointments which, at the time of their 
occurrence, were so hard to bear, in the retrospect 
he sees to have been ordained from a kind regard 
to his real good. How often is he constrained to 
sing, in the beautiful lines of Addison, 



JOY IN GOD'S PROVIDENCE. 53 

"When all thy mercies, my God, 
My rising soul surveys, 
Transported with the view, I'm lost 
In wonder, love, and praise. 

" Thy providence my life sustained, 
And all my wants redressed, 
When in the silent womb I lay, 
And hung upon the breast. 

" To all my weak complaints and cries, 
Thy mercy lent an ear, 
Ere yet my feeble thoughts had learned 
To form themselves in prayer. 

" When in the slippery paths of youth 
With heedless steps I ran, 
Thine arm unseen conveyed me safe, 
And led me up to man." 

It is a practical impression of this unseen hand 
moving in all that happens to the believer, admin- 
istering the cup of joy and of affliction, and all for 
his ultimate good, that throws over the soul a 
quiet confidence, and enables it in " every situation 
therewith to be content." His heavenly Father is 
at the helm, and no adverse wind that blows, or 
threatening waves that rise, can excite a fear in 
nis trustful heart. If the wisdom that looked to 
" the end from the beginning," that laid the plan 
of the universe in all its minute circumstances, as 
\vell as its grand results, is busied in shaping his 



54 WHO ARE THE RAPPY? 

lot in life ; and if the power that is omnipotent is 
also, under the guidance of eternal love, employed 
m carrying out these designs — if this be so, as he 
firmly believes, how calm and thankful, yea, even 
joyous, must be his feelings. Then must every 
blessing be viewed as from the hand of God ; and 
even disappointment be interpreted as an inexpli- 
cable yet certain token of the divine favor, which is 
to be overruled for the greater good of the soul. 
Now who can deny that such a doctrine puts the 
language of praise as well as of prayer into the 
lips, and enables him who believes h to " rejoice in 
the Lord always ?" If the father of a numerous 
family is known to be wise in all his domestic 
arrangements ; exact in their accomplishment ; 
blending patriarchal dignity with paternal love ; 
ever seeking the good of his household ; and con- 
triving a thousand affectionate ways to win their 
confidence and increase their respect and affection ; 
how certain that such a household will be pervaded 
by a lovely and joyous spirit. Even the discipline 
of that house will wear the aspect of tenderness, 
and every inmate will be watching for the return- 
ing smile upon the brow, as the signal for a renewal 
of their gladness. If domestic trials come, all will 
turn their confident expectations to the head. In 
his wisdom they have a pledge that every thing 
will be done which can be done ; and in his affec- 



JOY IN GOD'S PROVIDENCE. 55 

tion an equally sure pledge that what is done will 
have a respect to their interests. 

Now this but faintly images the confidence in 
God's providence which spreads such satisfaction 
and joy over the soul of a pious man. As one of a 
numerous family, he knows that while every inci 
dent is ordered and arranged by the great Head for 
the good of the whole, yet each individual's good is 
included in, and is conducive to the good of the 
whole. He will therefore be ever deciphering, 
among the vicissitudes of his journey, the tokens of 
divine favor which blend in with all that he enjoys 
and all that he suffers. In his passage to the 
eternal rest, not one inch will be too thorny, nor 
one moment too dark. No cup will be too bitter 
when he is convinced that his heavenly Father 
has given it to him to drink ; but breasting himself 
against the flood of evils which he may be called to 
meet, or rather strengthened by divine grace cheer- 
fully to bear what divine Providence has justly 
assigned, he will go on his way rejoicing in the 
full belief that all things will at last woik together 
for his good. 



66 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

CHAPTER X. 

THE JOY OF SALVATION. 

In the remarks already made, it has been implied, 
as the reader will perceive, that he who rejoices in 
Grod is one who is through divine mercy reconciled 
to him. In one word, he is in a state of salvation. 
This new relation which the soul sustains to its 
Creator and Sovereign is the grand source of its 
highest felicities ; and the consciousness of this 
change, together with the exercises which grow out 
of it, affords the most heartfelt joy. This is the joy 
of salvation. 

It is this great change, together with the effects 
of it on the heart and life, on the hopes and pros- 
pects, that distinguishes the truly pious from those 
who are unconverted. To know what this change 
is, and properly to appreciate its benign effects in 
the production of human happiness, it is necessary 
personally to experience it. " The natural man," 
says St. Paul, " receiveth not the things of the 
Spirit of God." 

Let those then speak of the blessedness of this 
state who through divine grace have enjoyed it ; 
and let none question the truth of their testimony, 
uor th; sincerity of their professions. 



JOY OF SALVATION. 57 

The very term salvatio?i implies subject matter 
for joy and praise. But the depth of the emotion 
must depend in some degree on the amount of evil 
from which the soul perceives itself to have been 
rescued. If a man is delivered from a state of 
mere ignorance, he would naturally rejoice in the 
change. Now, if the gospel simply revealed a 
clearer dispensation, and unfolded some new moral 
motives — the only view, alas, which many take — it 
would cause, in a mind anxious to acquire religious 
knowledge, a spring of fresh delight. But it will 
be seen that, in this case, nothing more is conceded 
to the gospel than an increase of moral light. The 
joy, therefore, if real, cannot be so deep as it will 
be according to another and more scriptural view 
which we present. 

Suppose the individual, in addition to being in a 
state of ignorance, to be also in a state of guilt and 
condemnation. He mourns not only that he is in 
darkness, but that he is in the " bonds of iniquity." 
He finds within an evil heart of unbelief, a heart 
of stone, a deep-seated alienation from God, which, 
according to the principles of the divine govern- 
ment, renders him liable to everlasting death ; nay, 
God has already actually passed upon him the sen 
tence of condemnation. The individual, we say, 
has a conviction of all this, which mars every 
earthly pleasure, and fixes his thoughts intensely 



58 WHO ARE THE HAFPY? 

on his doom. It is a conviction which saddens and 
depresses the soul, and incapacitates it for the. enjoy- 
ment of those things which the world covets and 
esteems. Nov/, mark, this is not religion, but a 
deep sense of the need of it. The indiscriminate 
observer sometimes confounds this anterior state of 
anxiety with religion. It is, however, only convic- 
tion ; and we do not pretend there is any joy in 
such a state of mind. But, as the sun shines the 
brighter when the dark cloud is broken, and the 
muttering thunders are dying away in the dis- 
tance, so the soul that flies terror-struck from 
mount Sinai, and comes in view of Calvary, re- 
joices the more from the impressive contrast of its 
emotions. 

It is at the point of transition that we wish to con- 
template it ; when it comes " out of darkness into 
God's marvellous light." In proportion to the depth 
of these convictions and the evils which they respect 
must be the joy of deliverance. But who can meas- 
ure these emotions ; or what mind, but that which 
has felt them, can understand the oppressive nature 
of these convictions ? Various and striking are the 
emblems used in Scripture to denote this wretched- 
ness from which the sinner by the gospel salva- 
tion is delivered. It is called a "horrible pit" — 
a " state of darkness." The soul is said to bo 
" lost," to be under " condemnation ;" a prisoner in 






toy of salvation. 59 

fetters ; " dead in sin ;" " sold under sin.'' Such 
are some of the scriptural representations of our old 
state, in which we are previous to the great change 
which brings the joy of salvation. Every true 
Christian has felt deeply and practically the truth 
of these representations. He has been hound under 
the burden of sin. No incarcerated victim ever 
felt more keenly the darkness and damps of his 
dungeon. No galley-slave ever sighed more oppres- 
sively under the weight of his chains. No wounded 
hart ever panted with keener anguish under the 
barbed shaft. It is in vain to attempt a sketch of 
the sinner's convictions, as he comes in full view of 
a violated law, an offended G-od, and an abused 
gospel. But deep as are these sorrows, they are the 
measure of that joy of salvation which succeeds. 

Go with the redemption price in your hand, and 
unlock the cell of the emaciated captive. As you 
announce to him the liberty which he is permitted 
to enjoy, mark well the emotions of his soul. Un- 
clasp his fetterr, and lead him forth to breathe 
once more the air of heaven. Let him actually 
feel that he is liberated, and that the beauties of 
God's universe are once more his to contemplate 
and enjoy : is it possible to describe or even to 
conceive his joy? Or as Cowper, in an afTecting 
strain of self- applying verse, represents himself the 
stricken deer, with arrow deep infixed, flying to the 



60 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

shady covert, and there meeting with one who ha4 
himself been shot by the archers, and who gently 
drew out the dart and healed the wound ; so take 
the poor wounded sinner, and go with him to the 
great Physician. See how effectually, yet how 
gently, the death -tipped arrow is withdrawn, and 
the balm of Gilead is applied. 

Can we paint the emotion of the wounded Israel- 
ite, as, stung by the fiery serpent, and already ex- 
periencing the cold convulsions of death, he casts 
his languid eye towards yonder brazen emblem ? 
Can we depict his joy as that eye rekindles and the 
pulsations of life return? Now, "as Moses lifted 
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so has the 
Son of man been lifted up ; that whosoever believeth 
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." 
there is nothing in nature, nothing in the release 
from bodily pain, nothing in the bestowment of 
temporal good, that properly illustrates the transi- 
tion from a state of sin and condemnation to one of 
hope and joy. Spring is beautiful as she puts forth 
her virgin life after the apparent death which so 
long had reigned over the face of nature. Her ten- 
der blade, her half expanded leaf, her timid flower 
her dewdrops, and her soft, calm skies, are all ani- 
mating expressions of new-born joy ; but how much 
more lovely is the soul that has just waked up to a 
life of holiness, cast off its grave clothes, come forth 



JOY OF SALVATION. 61 

out of its sepulchre, and bears the mild impress of 
God's renewing grace. Here is a subject for the 
joy of angels, and over it they do rejoice. All 
heaven is moved at such a scene. The soul which 
is the subject of this change is " full of joy with the 
light of God's countenance." This is the joy of 
salvation — of salvation through Jesus Christ — 01 
salvation from the curse of the law, from the do- 
minion of sin, from the woes of the second death. 



02 WHO ARE THE HAPPY! 

CHAPTER XT. 

JOYFUL PROMISES. 

If there is any thing on earth allied to the joys 
of heaven, it is the smile on the countenance of a 
new-born soul. The eye is more eloquent than the 
tongue. The moisture that bedews it is no token 
of sorrow. The storm is past, the winds are hushed, 
and these tears are like the last drops of the shower 
trembling and glistening in the joyous sunbeam. 
Hope and love seem to vie with each other in 
spreading a verdant path for the feet of the young 
pilgrim. His skies are all bright, and his song is 
only in exultant strains. This is the young con- 
vert. His soul has just begun to beat with the 
joys of salvation. 

We could dwell with pleasure on this lovely pic- 
ture ; but we are aware that these early joys are not 
without some passing clouds, and that the soul in 
its progress meets with vicissitudes analogous to 
the varying incidents of an earthly pilgrimage. 
But God has given the Christian a staff on which 
to lean, and by which — more potent than the magic 
wand — he is enabled to tread cheerfully and securely 
his path to the skies. I refer to the promises of the 
Bible. 



JOYFUL PROMISES. 63 

When the Christian experiences the joy of sal- 
vation, all these promises are, thenceforward, his 
inheritance. He has now not only a chart delineat- 
ing his course, but these starry lights to cheer and 
guide him on his way. Not a dangerous pitfall 
can occur, nor a venomous foe aim its fang against 
him ; but he has, in these promises, expedients and 
antidotes effectual to ward off the danger. There 
is no situation into which even his own indiscretion 
can throw him where they will not apply. "Great 
and precious" are these promises, and well calcu- 
lated to encourage and animate the pilgrim. 

If we go back to our primitive state, we find that 
while our first parents were bleeding under the 
wounds which their sin had inflicted, and while 
the note of condemnation was yet ringing in their 
ears, a most precious promise came, like a healing 
balm, from their injured Sovereign, " The seed of 
the woman shall bruise the serpent's head." On 
this promise the patriarchs lived ; and, in view of 
it, arranged the altar and the sacrifice in order to 
keep it the more vividly before the mind. Abra- 
ham took the promise of Jehovah as his guiding 
6tar in that pilgrimage which he prosecuted, until 
he rested in the cave of Machpelah. He was " the 
father of the faithful," and his confidence in these 
assurances of the Almighty was such as to justify 
the appellation. 



64 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

But the promises were not confined to a temporal 
inheritance even in the case of Abraham and his 
immediate posterity. They included Canaan, but 
pointed to a brighter inheritance above. So also 
with respect to believers in our own days, while 
some of the promises of God appertain to "the life 
that now is," the most of them refer to " that which 
is to come. 1 ' 

There is no state of mind nor any outward situ- 
ation in which we may not find some divine prom- 
ise applicable to our wants. How many are the 
fluctuations to which we are liable in this sinful 
and changeful state. These vicissitudes are ap- 
pointed by divine wisdom and goodness to test our 
sincerity, to strengthen our faith, and to drive us 
away from earthly supports to the simple and 
solid basis of heavenly truth. We learn not its pre- 
ciousness until we are in circumstances to apply it. 
Hence, when the soul is perplexed and cast down 
from the loss of its sensible joys, it has recourse to 
the promises which declare, that " light is sown 
for the righteous ;" and " whoso walketh in dark- 
ness and seeth no light, let him trust in the Lord 
and stay himself upon his God." When temptation 
presses and the believer seems ready to yield, he is 
roused and sustained by the assurance that " God 
will make a way of escape ;" and that if we " resist 
the devil, he will flee from us." In sickness, the 



JOYFUL PROMISES. 65 

Christian can pillow his head on the pledge, " Thou 
wilt make all his bed in his sickness ;" and in the 
hour of death — that dread hour when mortal strength 
gives way — he has the consolatory assurance, that 
though he walk through the valley of the shadow 
of death, no evil shall befall him, since God is 
with him, and his rod and staff are there to comfort 
him. 

The divine promises cover all the Christian's 
earthly changes, and refer to all his earthly rela- 
tions. They are not only for him, but for " his 
children,'" and seem to have a prospective bearing 
on their temporal and eternal welfare, as if, in 
paternal condescension, our heavenly Father in- 
tended we should be exempt from an over-anxiety 
respecting these dearest objects of earth. In the 
loss of earthly friendships, in deepest poverty, in the 
most threatening danger, under persecutions, and 
when envy and malignity have sharpened their 
arrows against him, the Christian can go to the 
divine word and gather fresh strength to suffer, and 
obtain new and glorious motives to persevere in the 
path of duty. In the mighty conflict with self and 
sin, to what can the soldier of the cross look, but to 
these assurances of strength and of victory which 
his great Captain and Leader has given him ? 
Here, in this armory, is a piece fitted for the soul 
n every situation of attack and of defence. The 

Who ar.. Happy 1 O 



66 



WHO ARE THE HaPPY 



panoply is complete. Clothed in it, no weapon that 
is formed against the Christian can prosper. It is 
more impervious than that of the famed Achilles, 
that left one mortal spot exposed, to which the 
fatal arrow at last found access. The promises of 
God secure the Christian from ultimate defeat, and 
give him the pledge of final victory. 

No wonder that Bunyan, in his beautiful alle- 
gory, gave prominence to the scroll w T hich Chris- 
tian carried in his bosom, and by consulting which 
in critical junctures he was enabled to go on his 
way rejoicing. This scroll contained these "great 
and precious promises." How joyfully may all suc- 
ceeding pilgrims travel on to their rest with such 
sweet encouraging assurances. What a contrast 
does their state present to that of those who, amid 
the storms and tempests of life, have no star to 
guide, and no secure anchor to hold them. 

But these promises not only solace and animate 
the pious mind in view of its own personal state, 
they also gfild the distant future as it relates to the 
prospects of Zion and the final triumphs of redemp- 
tion. Over this fluctuating scene the believer can 
look with a calm confidence that the Almighty is 
at work to fulfil the great designs of his kingdom, 
and give to his Son the universal sceptre. Are not 
these promises joyful? Can he who studies them 
and trusts in them be the sport of varying winds 



JOYFUL PROMISES. GV 

and adverse currents ? May he not plant his feet 
upon the rock, and contemplate the billows that 
beat harmless against it ? Above all, he can glance 
his eye to that region where " there is no more 
sea," and where the clouds which here had cur- 
tained the footsteps of the Almighty, will have 
cleared away and revealed the wisdom of his plans, 
the benignity of his acts, the rectitude of his govern 
Kient, and the triumphs of his mercy. 



GS WHO ARE THE HATPY? 

CHAPTER XII. 

JOYFUL PROSPECTS. 

The animating promises to which we have re- 
ferred, naturally lead us to contemplate the blissful 
prospects which they unfold. Most of them, as was 
observed, relate to that world which is to come. 
Their full accomplishment is to be experienced 
when the soul has passed through its earthly dis- 
cipline and reached its final and glorious rest. 

The Christian fixes his eye on the end, and finds 
his imagination busied there in combining the bright 
visions of eternal felicity. 

Now, whatever intermediate joys or sorrows a 
person is destined to realize, yet is he cheered and 
sustained if the end wears the aspect of predomi- 
nant good. But by none, except the Christian, 
can this end be contemplated with entire satisfac- 
tion. We do not deny that even he has at times 
his dark forebodings, nor do we assert that his faith 
always mounts to a triumphant tone when he sur- 
veys the certainty and the solemnity of death. But 
his religion certainly does much to neutralize its 
horrors. It gives him the promise of support in the 
fearful crisis, and reveals to his faith the certain 
and glorious prospects which lie beyond. It assures 



JOYFUL PROSPECTS. 69 

Am that when " flesh and heart shall fail, God 
will be the strength of his heart and his portion for 
ever." It declares that as now his greatest burden 
is sin, hereafter that burden shall be felt no more ; 
and that since his strongest aspirations here are foi 
greater degrees of holiness, his desire shall be satis- 
fied when he awakes in the image and likeness of 
God. 

But exemption from the evils of this fallen state, 
both natural and moral, including an amount of 
good which no imagination can picture, and the 
positive addition of pure and satisfying pleasures, 
as endless in duration as they are ennobling in 
their influence on the soul, give us still higher im- 
pressions of the Christian's future portion. " Eye 
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered 
into the heart of man the things which God hath 
prepared for them that love him." 

It would ill become the writer to attempt any 
description of what is indescribable. We some- 
times try to give an absent friend some sketch of 
natural scenery which has been particularly inter- 
esting to ourselves. We labor to place before him 
the distinct features of the landscape, to throw the 
same glowing picture upon his conceptions which 
has impressed itself on our own, but we feel that 
our powers are inadequate to the task. We cannot 
make the scene live and breathe before him. The 



70 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

freshness, the fragrance, the sweet sounds, the sooth- 
ing, insinuating beauties which steal in through 
every sense, and tranquillize or enrapture the heart 
we cannot infuse into the description. Now, if we 
strive in vain to sketch a scene from nature so as 
to make an adequate impression, how poor must be 
the most labored attempt to set forth the glories of 
that world which we have not seen as yet, and of 
which even the primeval earthly paradise was but 
an emblem. 

When we speak of joyful prospects, we look at 
the end. Man lives more upon the future than 
upon the present. Hope is the busy feeling or emo- 
tion that gives elasticity to the soul's powers. 

The heir to an estate expects soon to pass out of 
his minority. He chides the leaden-winged hours 
which move so slowly towards the period when he 
is to take possession of his inheritance. His mind 
is teeming with high anticipations of the pleasures 
which will then be at his command. But what is 
this prospect compared with that which the Chris- 
tian entertains ? It is not to earthly and withering 
joys that he looks forward, but "to an inheritance 
incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not 
away." 

The warrior thinks of the civic crown which 
admiring and grateful citizens are to place upon 
his brow, and the prospect nerves his arm and sus- 



JOYFUL PROSPECTS. 71 

tains his courage. It lights up the darkest scene 
of conflict, and makes the severest toil easy to be 
borne. The mariner far off on. the deep lives on 
the hope of a quiet haven, and the greeting of loved 
ones, whose caresses are to make him forget the 
boisterous winds and the impending dangers of his 
voyage. But what are those prospects compared 
with the immortal crown for which the Christian 
contends, and which, if he is " faithful unto death,'' 
will be given him amid the congratulations of heav- 
en's blissful inhabitants ? What haven is so calm 
as the " haven of eternal rest ;" where, after being 
tossed upon this troubled sea, the soul is at last 
admitted, and moors itself along the banks of that 
river of life which is clear as crystal, and which is 
skirted by the immortal fruits of paradise ? Cheer- 
ing prospects these. Surely the Christian can and 
ought to rejoice. The intermediate events may not, 
to the eye of sense, seem so auspicious as from his 
admitted character we should anticipate ; but we 
are to estimate his happiness not only by what is 
visible and present, but by what is unseen, and 
what is yet to be realized. 

The pathway to our rest, if not all smooth and 
verdant, is sufficiently so to give it a decided pref- 
erence over those which the worldling and the sen- 
sualist tread. But the great attraction lies in the 
direction which it takes, and in the glories to which 



72 WHO ARE THE HAPPY! 

it leads. We can bear to traverse a rugged way, if 
it terminate in a fertile e: r if it conduct us 

to a splendid and well-furnished home. Now the 
Christian's course is far fi og a rugged one : 

on the contrary, as appears from what has been 
said, it has much to make the traveller elate and 
joyful. But 0. its end ! See where it leads his 
feet ; to what a calm and cloudless region it con- 
ducts him ! Heaven is its termination. Its man- 
sions of rest are ever in view. Like the never- 
fading glory which Bunyan keeps before Iris hero's 
eye. and which, though far in the rves 

to cheer him on through difficulties and dangers, 
these promised scenes appeal incessantly to the eye 
of faith, and sustain the spirit in its upward flight. 
Here is a view of the Christian's prospects, which 
even they who deny his claim to present felicity 
must admit to be a joyful one. Ah. how of 
does the child of vanity sigh to think that he can- 
not have this world and heaven too ; and with 
what gladnes he at last accept of the good 

man's pit ind share his bright reward. But 

to do this he must consent to take his cross, to bear 
his burdens, to walk in the same path ; then and 

till then, may he indulge the hope that •• his 

end will be like his." 



OBSTRUCTIONS TO PIOUS JOV. 7& 



CHAPTER XIII. 

OBSTRUCTIONS TO PIOUS JOY. 

Ha"V ing now developed some of the resources of 
Christian cheerfulness, it is time to inquire whether 
we avail ourselves of them, and are as joyful as our 
religion is designed to make us. 

The very statement of this question brings a sigh, 
I fear, from the reader, who is conscious, perhaps, 
that while there is no deficiency in his religion, 
there is a very deep and criminal one in himself. 

It is with the view to make the Christian under- 
stand his privileges, and to improve them to the 
furtherance of his happiness, that these pages are 
indited ; and this cannot he effected without laying 
open some of the obstructions which hinder the 
soul from reaching that mount of clear vision and 
bright prospects to which the blessed gospel in- 
vites us. 

It is a melancholy circumstance, especially in its 
influence upon the unthinking world, that the joy 
of the professors of religion seems so seldom to flow 
directly from their piety. Some are scarcely dis- 
tinguishable from the world in their apparent 
sources of felicity. They drink eagerly at the same 
fountains, and range as freely and as exultingly 



74 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

among the same pleasures. But little need be said 
of such, since their preferences, and their associates, 
and their habitual joys evince that it is very possible 
to wear the name without realizing the blessings 
of the Christian. 

But we will take those who, in the judgment of 
charity, "have passed from death unto life," and 
see whether even among these there is not room 
for improvement — whether some serious obstruc- 
tions do not exist to the full development of their 
moral influence, and to the allowed exercise of their 
pious joy. 

In the world of .nature, it is astonishing how 
much attention and cultivation will do in advanc- 
ing the strength and the beauty of her productions. 
The plant that exhibited but a stinted growth when 
wild and uncared for, or when overshadowed by 
other vegetation, if removed from these uncongenial 
circumstances and set in a more favorable position, 
will soon erect its head, put on additional verdure, 
and bear more abundant fruit. On the other hand, 
the finest tree that grows in the rich fruitery, if 
neglected by the husbandman, or transferred to a 
less congenial region, will soon become dwarfish 
and unsightly, even should it not actually wither 
and die. Think ye it is the reverse of this in the 
kingdom of grace ? Has Providence no moral les- 
sons to inculcate by the analogies of nature ? Are 



OBSTRUCTIONS TO PIOUS JOY. 7£ 

there not obstructions as well as facilities to the 
growth of grace, and can we be insensible to the 
importance of ascertaining them ? 

It is not the design of this little work to enter 
minutely into Christian experience, and trace all 
the varying symptoms of the soul under the action 
of its remaining depravity. There are causes of 
depression and fear which operate on the Christian 
in every stage of his journey, but do not necessarily 
hinder him in his course, nor for any length of time 
deprive him of his spiritual joys. The power of the 
great adversary is fatal somewhat in accordance 
with the manner in which it is brought to bear 
upon the soul. A sudden attack, however over- 
whelming, is less injurious than the gradual but 
certain relaxation of pious watchfulness. Apollyon, 
when striding our path and brandishing his fiery 
darts, is not so much to be dreaded as when, by 
some of his subtle agents, he spreads a flowery path 
tor our feet, and invites us away from our prescribed 
journey. In the former case the dread is but mo- 
mentary ; and if the foe be faced and by grace 
resisted, the Christian soldier, though intensely 
beset, will come off conqueror and sing the song of 
victory. This will add to his joys, instead of dimin- 
ishing them. But in the other case, the approach 
is so conducted, and with such well-concerted 
schemes and appliances, that the Christian is of] 



76 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

his guard, and listens to the tempter before he 
is aware oi his designs. The first wrong step 
seems so easy, and to be so slight a deviation from 
the " king's highway," that the Christian ventures 
to take it ; but he soon finds, that to be out of the 
path is more dangerous far, than while in it and 
with his face towards Zion to meet the most 
formidable of his adversaries. How surely, if not 
speedily, will his joys fall off under these wander- 
ings from the path of duty. Be his first emotions 
as a young convert ever so pure and joyous, they 
will not abide these subtle insinuations, but, like 
>ie tender plant which can meet unhurt the rush 
of the tempest, yet droops and hangs its head under 
the eiler^ but more fatal action of the frost, they 
will fade under the seductive influence of worldly 
pleasures. It will be in unison with the object of 
this work, therefore L o consider the obstructions 
which arise from this latter cause, inasmuch as in 
our country, and in the present state of society, the 
dangers to vital pie+y and to all its lovely fruits 
are far greater irom the action of earthly influ- 
ences than from the sudden onset of the prince of 
darkness. 

Every age has its peculiarities by which the state 
of the Christian church is greatly affected ; and it 
is important to know what and how numerous are 
the influences adverse to piety in this age, and how 



OBSTRUCTIONS TO PIOUS JOY 77 

certainly Christian character is modified by them. 
An army is sometimes overthrown by a direct and 
powerful assault, but more frequently perhaps by 
stratagem. It will find itself marching on apparently 
unresisted. The cities will seem to be flung open, 
and the highway clear — something like the onward 
progress of Napoleon's grand army in Russia — but 
in the mean time the foe, though concealed himself, 
is observant of his victim. The plot is at length 
developed, and the dreadful discomfiture takes place ; 
in which case, if the betrayed army make good its 
retreat, it is with broken ranks and dispirited feel- 
ings and trailing standards. Something like this 
is to be apprehended in the influence of the world 
upon the hosts of Israel at the present day. There 
is great security on the part of Christians, and great 
apparent yielding on the part of the world, in order 
to accommodate and thus draw upon its own ground 
the pledged soldiers of the cross. Here is the dan- 
ger, and let every Christian look at it and inquire 
whether he, as one of this great army, is not march* 
ing in the wrong direction. 



78 WHO ARE THE HAPP\ ! 



CHAPTER XIY. 

CONSTANT CONTACT WITH THE WORLD UNFAVCK 
ABLE TO PIOUS JOY. 

One part of "pure religion" is to keep " unspot- 
ted from the world." How few reflect daily on 
this feature of true piety, and how little danger is 
felt by professors of religion from direct and con- 
stant contact with the ivorld. But look at this 
beautiful allusion again. How carefully does the 
delicate hand adjust and guard the unsoiled gar- 
ment, as the path becomes obstructed and the dress 
exposed. One spot will mar its beauty and make 
its owner sigh ; but if by rough contact with some 
offensive object it should be defiled, it will hence- 
forth be laid aside as useless. Is the care which 
we bestow upon the soul, or even on the Christian 
character, to be compared with this ? And would 
not some professors sigh over a soiled garment more 
than at the gradual diminution of spiritual purity 
which they are experiencing by constant intercourse 
with the world ? 

But shall we therefore retire into obscurity, and, 
like the ascetic, pass an act of non-intercourse with 
society, while we pore in silent abstraction over our 
own peculiar feelings ? We answer, that one ex- 



CONTACT WITH THE WORLD. 79 

treme, if dangerous, does not justify us in flying to 
the other, if it be forbidden. Now our Saviour, in 
his commands and counsels, has not advised to this 
latter extreme, but has actually indicated his dis- 
approbation of it, by declaring that his followers 
are "the salt of the earth" and "the light of the 
world ;" and by exhorting them to " let their light 
shine before men," it is clear that he requires u& to 
live in the world, and to illustrate our religion bo- 
fore its eyes. In his intercessory pray-., jliso, ne 
says, " I pray not that thou s^uldst take them 
out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them 
from the evil." This is precisely in harmony with 
the char oteristic of pure religion to " keep unspot- 
ted from tuo world," and this is all we plead for : 
that a Christian, if he would not let down his pro- 
fession and part with his appropriate joy and felicity, 
must walk carefully in a world so filled with objects 
calculated to mar his high vocation. 

There are extremes, namely, the ascetic life, and 
trie over-tasked and jaded spirit that passes its almost 
entire existence in the busy and care-corrodiug world. 
We shall not undertake to estimate the comparative 
guilt and danger of these extremes, but simply ob- 
serve, tha* in our times, if there be guilt in the life 
of an ascetic, it is not very probable that many pro- 
fessors of religion will incur it. The danger with us 
lies on the other extreme ; and assimilation ivilh % 



eo 



WHO ARE lx£E HAPPY? 



rather than separation from the world, is likely to 
involve us in guilt, and to take from us our confi- 
dence and joy. 

The world has almost given up its persecuting 
spirit, either because Christianity has become so 
predominant as fearlessly to ask the shield of the 
law to protect her, or — which it is feared is the 
more palpable reason — because there is so little of 
her pure spirit manifested as not to excite opposi- 
tion, and hence a sort of compromise has gradually 
though not avowedly taken place. The world will 
tolerate piety with such modifications in the con- 
duct of her professors that it will not disturb the 
fears of the worldling, but rather afford an apology 
for his continued idolatry. The line of separation 
having thus gradually faded, the professor is solic- 
ited to part with his scruples, and to mingle indis- 
criminately with men of all principles and pro- 
fessions. 

Now, what is the effect of this ? In the first 
place, the pious man is by these circumstances 
thrown off Iris guard, and goes into the world with 
almost as little fear of evil consequences as if he 
were associating only with the good. The next 
effect of such free and constant intercourse is, to 
diminish the glow of pious feeling and to weaken 
the power of conscience. At length the professor 
can scarcely live out of the world. Its business, its 



CONTACT WITH THE ^VOHLD 81 

politics, its stirring events, yea, even its pleasures 
are gradually becoming topics of deep interest. His 
joy is now derived from other sources than it was 
wont to be. The place of retirement used to have 
attractions, and the throne of grace used to be 
visited as the soul's happy home. How many hours 
of tranquil delight have been passed in secret, the 
world shut out, and the spirit taking excursions to 
the land of Beulah ; but now these joys are gone 
Serious obstructions have occurred. The world 
has put in its claim. It has gone to the Christian 
and fastened on him anew its chain. It has required 
of him what all tyrants do, that he should acknow- 
ledge no other master. It says to him, " You may 
exercise your religion on the Sabbath, when my 
service cannot be performed, and I will allow you 
a few moments of hurried and heartless prayer in 
the morning and in the evening, but the rest of 
your time and attention I claim for the purpose of 
business, society, and pleasure." 

We will not undertake to say how many pro- 
fessors of piety are thus drawn away by the world 
and live wholly amidst its exciting scenes. But 
many are exposed to this course of life from the 
peculiar state of society in our day and country. 
Their business and their engagements render them 
the easy victims of the world's temptations. It is 
this constant contact with the world which we 

Who are ilappyl O 



$2 TViiG ARE t.he happy? 

deprecate, and which, ZLtt/re than any one cause, 
we dread as undermining the vital principles of 
piety. Is such a Christian happy? Is his joy 
"the joy of the Lord?" Ah, if he has ever tasted 
of pious joy, he must feel the sad contrast in the 
meagre and unsatisfying pleasures which are ten- 
dered to him. Look at Demas. See his care-worn 
brow that used to wear the smile of heaven, and 
his sorrow-shaded face that seems to say, "My 
religious joys are gone ;" and yet he has too much 
conscience left to appropriate without fearful mis- 
givings the pleasures of the world. If he would 
speak out, he would exclaim, " I was once a happy 
man ; I lived on the promises of God. and gathered 
my joys along the green pastures of his grace. 1 
'oved to go alone and commune with my Maker, 
^nd felt as if the world was but a vanity. Alas, 
what am I now? Day after day I am busied and 
anxious about many things, while the " one thing 
needful" is neglected. The business I have chosen, 
and the engagements which I have made, drive me 
on, against the remonstrating voice of conscience, 
while my soul is oppressed with the fearful idea of 
final apostasy and ruin!" 






CONTACT WITH THE WORLD 80 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. 

The lamentation of Demas, with which the last 
chapter concludes, implies a fault too common 
among professing Christians, especially those whose 
business and engagements lead them into frequent 
contact with the world. This obstruction to their 
piety, and of course to their true felicity and joy, 
is great in proportion to the time consumed and the 
interest felt in earthly pleasures and connections. 

We do not admit the impossibility of mingling 
with the world and still retaining our peace of 
mind, our Christian influence, and our pious joy. 
Many might be named who keep " the garment 
unspotted" and the soul unclogged amid the cares 
of earth, and under the pressure of its daily toil. 
It would be an argument against our religion if it 
disqualified its possessor for the performance of any 
duty, social, civil, or political, if it did not in fact 
fit him the better to discharge these obligations. 
It is in accordance with the spirit of Christianity to 
meet cheerfully every occasion which Providence 
furnishes for the promotion of the general good. It 
is the duty of her professors to shrink from no bur- 
den which may lawfully be borne, and to retreat 



PI WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

from no station, if personally qualified, in which 
they may serve their country without dishonoring 
their religion. " Faith overcomes the world." This 
is the testimony of heaven. But this victory im- 
plies not a retreat from, but a conflict with the foe. 
We are to pray not to be " taken out of the world, 
but to be kept from the evil." 

But while all this is true, it is nevertheless 
equally true that mingling constantly with the 
world is a perilous experiment, upon which few 
can venture without detriment to their religion. 
The danger arises from not fully understanding the 
tendency of worldly influences upon the soul, and 
also from not taking the proper precautions to coun- 
teract it. One of these precautions is, to allot a 
sufficient portion of time for the daily, habitual im- 
provement of the pious affections. If this were 
done, there would be comparatively little dangei 
from the subtle foe. 

The Christian is represented as a warrior clothed 
in a panoply which he is to use both for attack and 
for defence. Now this armor is to be on him con- 
tinually. It is also requisite that every day he 
examine it, to see if it be well fitted and properly 
polished, since not a day passes in which his enemy 
is not watching to plant " an arrow between the 
joints of the harness." But how can thi* be done 
if the soldier is always on the field and never in 



CONTACT WITH THE WORLD. Sb 

his tent ? By mingling constantly with his foes, he 
may be overpowered through weariness, and have 
his armor stript from him ere he is aware of it. But 
waiving figurative language, it must he confessed 
that there is great negligence in many as to the 
manner in which their closet duties are performed, 
and a miserly appropriation of time to God and to 
the soul. They live too constantly in the world to 
allow of their living in it without great detriment 
to their piety. To walk unharmed this dangerous 
path, the Christian must duly contemplate his ex- 
posedness, and so proportion his time between his 
business engagements and the claims of devotion as 
that the latter shall neutralize completely the in- 
jurious tendency of the former. There must be 
daily retirement, and enough of it, or the soul will 
lose its joys, if not its piety, amid the bustling scenes 
of earth. 

It is a fixed law of our nature, that whatever 
most constantly appeals to the thoughts acts power- 
fully upon the moral affections, and thus gives thf 
impress of itself upon the soul. All experience tes- 
tifies to this. Let, then, the Christian plunge into 
the agitated sea of earthly cares, and from day to 
day fix his thoughts upon the business, the plans, 
the politics, and the pleasures of the world — let 
him give his mind intensely and habitually to these 
things, and what will become of his religion ? What 



86 <VHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

judgment will men form of it ? But suppose, in 
the mean time, but a very small portion of each day 
is allotted to prayer and other devotional duties ; or, 
what perhaps is possible, these duties are irregu- 
larly and superficially performed ; where will be 
the expression of his piety, and who in his case 
would suppose that it was the mainspring of the 
soul's felicity? Is it not easy to see that the world 
must, under such circumstances, impress itself 
strongly on the mind, and proportionally efface the 
divine image of piety. 

Let the Christian, on the other hand, consider 
well his exposedness, and so arrange his affairs that 
religion shall have its just claim in the apportion" 
ment of his time. Let him not be in the world 
except when duty and necessity call him there, and 
let him prepare, by God's grace, for coming in con- 
flict with it. It must be an habitual, daily prep- 
aration. Some professors of religion who could be 
named, appear to act on the principle of putting off 
converse with their own hearts until old-age or 
sickness compels them to it : and they seem to 
understand our Lord, when he says, " work while 
the day lasteth," as calling them to an unremitted 
effort for worldly good. Alas, such will bitterly 
lament their course. The happy Christian gives a 
due proportion of his time daily to his God. He 
has his seasons of retirement, and will not allow the 



CONTACT WITH THE WORLD. £7 

intrusive world to rob him of them. He is thus 
prepared for the intercourse and collision of active 
life, and is enabled to walk the fiery furnace un- 
rcorched by its flame. His mind is habitually 
turned to God, and his religion sanctifying his 
worldly business, makes it the occasion of a richer 
development of his heaven-born nature. 

Gaius is called to bear as many and as oppressive 
worldly burdens as any man. But his religion 
suffers not by this necessity. Indeed it is his piety 
which enables him so calmly to meet and to dis- 
charge the arduous duties of his station. Wherever 
you see him his countenance is calm, and he is 
always ready to speak of higher joys, even when 
the world goes prosperously with him. He is evi- 
dently a man of prayer. His earliest thoughts are 
given to God, and ere the business of the day or 
the engagements of social life — clamorous as they 
are for his attention — have preferred their request, 
he is settling the higher claims of the soul, and by 
earnest prayer is equipping it for its daily conflict. 
Gaius is no recluse. He is not indifferent to the 
pleasures of life when they may be enjoyed with- 
out the sacrifice of principle, nor is he backward in 
giving his influence and his toil in all that respects 
even the temporal good of his fellow-men. But 
one look at the man will tell you that his highest 
qualification is that he is a Christian. His joys 



83 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

are evidently those of true piety. He keeps the 
private altar bright with the incense of devotion ; 
and by first making sure his walk with God, he is 
enabled to go forth into the world with the calm 
consciousness that he who has appointed to him its 
duties and exposed him to its dangers, will assist 
him in the discharge of the one and will protect 
him from the other. It is needless to add that he 
is a happy man. 



THE PURSUIT OF RICHLfe, 99 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE PURSUIT OF RICHES UNFAVORABLE TO A 
CHRISTIAN'S HAPPINESS. 

Why is it that some Christians are found in such 
constant contact with the world ? Why are closet 
duties abridged or neglected, while time is freely 
and even lavishly given to business and to pleas- 
ure ? Ah, it has been sadly answered in the almost 
unbounded thirst for gain, w T hich, like a sweeping 
epidemic, has found its way into the habitations 
and the hearts of the pious as well as among 
others. There is nothing in modern times which 
so fearfully threatens the cause of vital piety ; and 
if Providence does not meet the evil by an over- 
whelming rebuke, it is impossible to calculate how 
deep and wide-spread it may become. 

The astonishing anomaly has been witnessed of 
men professing to live above the world, wholly bent 
on acquiring its possessions. Those who by their 
vows renounce its pomps and its vanities, have 
been seen foremost in plans to secure these distinc- 
tions, and even ostentatious in the exhibition of 
them. Now we would know if the self-denying 
religion of Jesus authorizes this course, or if piety 
is to be held responsible for conduct by which her 



90 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

principles are outraged and set at defiance. Alas, 
her bosom lias bled under this wound until her very 
existence has been seriously threatened. 

It will not be denied, I presume, that wc are 
under obligations to imitate our Saviour as well as 
to believe in him. Indeed, we cannot truly believe 
without imitating him. 

But must we imitate him in his poverty ? Must 
we cast away our pillows of down and vacate our 
comfortable mansions, that, like Jesus, we may 
" not have where to lay our heads ?" Or must we 
neglect to provide for our own, to place our fami- 
lies in independent circumstances ? " Surely." says 
the thrifty and money-making Christian, " piety 
does not require this of us." Well, admit that she 
does not — admit that she allows us to sleep on our 
soft pillows, to live in fine houses, to ride in splen- 
did vehicles, and to feast on rich dainties, while he 
whom we serve possessed none of these things ; or 
admit, if your taste be such, that she allows you to 
prefer plainer accommodations with the sweet con- 
sciousness of more hoarded treasure — and the con- 
duct of many professedly pious would seem to claim 
that religion does allow all this — admit it. and we 
have still to ask what she disallows. Is there any 
abridgment of our earthly desires which she de- 
mands ? If there is none — if we may embark in 
the pursuit of riches with as unbridled an appetite 



THE PURSUIT OF RICHES. 91 

as the professed votaries of the world, and vie. with 
them in the manifestation of external grandeur, it 
must follow that Jesus did not mean what he said, 
or that he was mistaken when he declared, " Ye 
cannot serve God and mammon." There is some 
difference between literally impoverishing ourselves 
for the sake of being like Christ, and manifesting 
a totally opposite character in a greedy and all- 
absorbing pursuit of the world. There is not quite 
so much danger in the former case of serving God 
too much, as there is in the latter of not serving 
him at all. It has not been the fault of Chris- 
tians that they have been over-righteous in this 
matter. 

It is a subject for serious inquiry, how far the 
pursuit of riches is consistent with true and genu- 
ine piety ; and whether the changes, political and 
social, which have taken place since Christ laid 
down his self-denying rules, do really permit us to 
overlook their obligation, and make common cause 
with other men in all their prospects and their 
plans of gain. In order to settle this point, we 
seem to need, that, with his fan in his hand, Jesus 
should come to sift out the commingled opinions 
and practices which have supervened ; and sepa- 
rating the precious from the vile, to show who art 
and who are not his genuine disciples. 

But is there no criterion by which we can radcx 



02 WHO ARE THE HAfFY? 

stand. the mind of Christ on this subject ? Is there 
no voice within that utters its verdict, and assents 
or dissents to the position which is sometimes taken 
on the question ? Hearest thou not something in 
the secret soul that speaks of departed joys, and a 
backslidden state, and overclouded hopes ? Is there 
not in the Christian's experience a response to what 
Jesus has said, "Ye cannot serve God and mam- 
mon ?" How many are there who ran well the 
first part of their race, who seemed to have their 
eye on the heavenly prize with a fair prospect of 
obtaining it, but who caught, as by a side glance, a 
view of the tempting bait of riches, and all at cnce 
their feet loitered in the course, their eye was 
averted from the goal, and ere long they were 
found running with equal, if not greater zeal, after 
the rewards of mammon. But how has this diver- 
sion of their interest and zeal operated upon their 
spirits ? Has it had the effect to augment or to 
diminish their joy? Are they as happy in serving 
mammon as they were formerly in serving God ? 
But it is replied, "We have not given up our relig- 
ion ; although it has not, we admit, the same influ- 
ence upon our happiness as it once had. We have 
not actually lost sight of its obligations nor inter- 
mitted entirely its duties. We worship God in the 
family if we do not in the closet, and we are found 
in our seats in the sanctuary even if we have lost 



THE PURSUIT OF RICHES. 93 

our Interest in the social prayer-meeting. Besides, 
by gaining more of the world we are enabled to 
give more for the spread of the gospel, so that we 
cannot be charged with an actual defection from 
the ranks of the pious." Sad confession this, of 
pious joy sacrificed on the altar of mammon. Poor 
apology for relinquishing the crown of glory, and 
turning aside after " the lust of the eye and the 
pride of life." And what, after all, is the gain ? 
Will it compensate for the loss of the soul's true 
felicity ? "Will it make up for the consciousness of 
the disapprobation of heaven, which, even in mo- 
ments of earthly prosperity, must be a heavy draw- 
back on our joy ? Shall we run more fleetly on our 
race after loading our pockets with golden weights, 
or wrestle with more success against " principali- 
ties and powers," when we have relaxed our moral 
energies by earthly indulgences ? How easy it is 
to find excuses for our sins. What specious but 
sophistical arguments will Satan urge to set us upon 
a pursuit of the world, and thus rob us of our peace 
and joy. " All these will I give thee, if thou wilt 
unchain thy affections from the gospel chariot and 
link them to mammon's car ; and why should not 
you have the means of enjoyment, and your chil- 
dren the means of support, as well as others ? Then, 
too, see how much good you can do with riches ; 
what a field of benevolence they will open to you 



94 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

Why need you hesitate ? There is no chinch 
censure can he passed upon you for this pursuit." 
The reasoning seems good, says " the old man 
which is corrupt," and I will act upon it. So 
farewell the peace of God until I have gained th^ 
peace which the " world giveth." 



SOCIAL PLEDGES. 95 



CHAPTER XVII. 

SOCIAL AND BUSINESS PLEDGES OBSTRUCTIONS TO 
A CHRISTIAN'S JOY.— SOCIAL PLEDGES. 

The Christian professor has an important prac- 
tical point to settle, namely, how much intercourse 
with the world is safe and allowable, and what 
proportion of his time should be employed daily in 
communion with God. 

Such are the varying circumstances and tempera- 
ments of individuals, that one standard, it must be 
evident, will not apply in all cases. But by a con- 
scientious and quick-sighted Christian, the follow- 
ing rule, or rather criterion, may be safely con- 
sulted. If he finds his interest in the closet on the 
ivane, and his interest in worldly business or social 
pleasure gradually deepening, he should suspect that 
too small a proportion of time is given to devotion. 
In this case he is evidently too much in the world. 
His happiness as a Christian is thereby endangered, 
and he is called upon at once to retrieve lost ground. 
His confession and his prayer must be, " Lord, I 
have gone astray like a lost sheep : seek thy ser- 
vant, for I do not forget thy commandments." 

The great sources of temptation in our day are 
social and business engagements. These are entered 



96 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

into sometimes without due reflection on their ten 
dency to weaken the divine life of piety in the soul. 
Some Christian people seem to think, or rather seem 
to act as if they thought, they can take " coals of 
fire in the bosom and the clothes not be burned. ,, 

The pleasures of social life are tendered to the 
Christian on the ground that they are innocent, 
and therefore allowable ; and, without much dis- 
crimination as to the forms they assume or the 
deleterious ingredients accompanying them, he is 
persuaded to indulge himself in them, even at the 
expense of his pious joys. 

The world knows well how to graduate these 
social entertainments so as not to alarm the weak 
conscience, nor at the outset to betray its designs. 
But step by step is the unapprised soul led on, until 
it can relish and even desire a scale of pleasurable 
excitement, which once would have startled its fears 
and driven it back to its peaceful and soul-satisfying 
retirement. 

An invitation comes to Theodosia, indited in the 
usual complimentary strain, in which it is affirmed 
that nothing more than a social few are to pass an 
evening in a very quiet way. The plan is well- 
adjusted, and the timid Christian is induced to 
accede. But from this moment there is an unac- 
countable perturbation in her mind. She has been 
so long accustomed to the calm pleasures of home. 



SOCIAL PLEDGES. 97 

and especially to the pure delights of communion 
with God, that the hare anticipation of so different 
a scene seems to have entirely unsettled her peace. 
It is like the sudden inundation of a river which 
a few hours before flowed with clear and gentle 
stream, but is now rushing on with an impetuous 
and turbid flood. The busy notes of preparation 
are now heard, and the mind, torn from its accus- 
tomed topics, is forced to think of frivolities. How 
hard it is now to read with fixed attention a chap- 
ter in the Bible. How difficult to send the " thoughts 
that breathe" to the mercy-seat above. Who can 
doubt that a violent shock is felt through the soul. 
Away flies this dove from the peaceful ark to dis- 
port its wing over the agitated scene which is pre- 
pared for it. The scene is brilliant beyond antici- 
pation, captivating to the senses, and impressive to 
the youthful imagination. The quiet social con- 
vention is wonderfully transmuted into the gay and 
almost uproarious assembly. Forced smiles and 
flattering compliments have usurped the place of 
profitable conversation, and every thing in the com- 
pany and in the arrangements seems adapted to 
banish serious thought from the mind. Is Theo- 
dosia happy in this gay circle ? There is in her 
countenance something thrt seems to say, " I am 
trying to be happy." It will be well for her it 
this trial is unsuccessful. It will be to her praise, 

Who are Happy 1 7 



98 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

and for her peace, if the next similar temptation is 
resisted. The danger is, that she may acquire a 
fondness for that which at first was rather tolerated 
than desired. To he out of society, it will he sug- 
gested, is not her duty : as if society was found abne 
where the crowded contact of frivolous minds exists 
Yes, the danger is that she may he induced to repeat 
the experiment, and hy heing often in such circum- 
stances, gradually to exchange her former joys for 
those which are altogether empty and unsatisfying. 
On the altar of mere social pleasure she may be 
tempted to sacrifice sweet peace of conscience. Her 
Bible, her closet, her walks of usefulness may be 
neglected to attend to the calls of time's most cruel 
murderers. We again ask, Can she be happy? 

The true and proper test of these social influ- 
ences is to be found in their effect on the devo- 
tional habits. If they break up the duties of the 
closet, indispose the mind for meditation, and make 
the Bible a dull book, we have reason to suspect 
they are indulged to an unlawful extent. There is 
then something in them positively injurious to piety 
of heart, and we must at once restrict ourselves to 
a more moderate and less exciting scale of pleas- 
ures ; one which will leave us at least as favorably 
disposed for Christian duty as it found us. 

Let us not be understood by these remarks as 
condemning all social entertainments, nor as argu- 



SOCIAL PLEDGES 99 

mg against a free interchange of thought and feel- 
ing not strictly religious — as wishing to convert 
every circle of friendship into a prayer-meeting ; but 
simply as putting the Christian on his guard against 
the exciting and deleterious influence of those scenes 
where the direct object evidently is to elicit the 
sensual and to crush the spiritual feelings of man. 
Young Christians should be cautioned against com- 
mitting themselves in social engagements which 
may embarrass their consciences, weaken their 
moral strength, and extinguish their pious joys. 
Having embraced the cross, and professed that their 
superior attachments are found in true piety, they 
must be careful to impress the world with the fact, 
that having tasted of purer pleasures, they have no 
longings after those which they have abandoned. 
If they are easily drawn off to indulge in mere 
earthly excitement, it will be inferred that they are 
disappointed in the power of piety to make them 
happy, and thus will their conduct confirm the 
pleasurist in his fatal choice. Piety will make 
them happy, if they do not introduce a rival to her 
influence ; but how can any man expect that she 
will continue to smile upon him, if he take to his 
bosom her deadliest enemy, the world ? How can 
the youthful professor just alluded to expect that 
piety will follow her to scenes where its name is 
never mentioned, or ^/mentioned, is too often alluded 



ICO WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

to only by way of jest or ridicule ? How can she 
expect that religion will fill her soul with its heav- 
enly joys, when that soul is already preoccupied 
with grovelling pleasures ? Let her take her stand 
against the world's allurements, and find in G-od 
and in his service her supreme delight, and then 
will piety pour upon her its celestial smile ; and 
then, like the dove with tired wing, will she find 
a hand stretched forth from the ark to draw her in 
and give her a resting-place that loses none of its 
charms from its contrast with earth's tumultuous 
9-nd stormv scenes. 



BUSINESS PLEDGES. 101 

CHAPTER XVIII 

BUSINESS PLEDGES. 

When a Christian can mingle in general society 
without injury to his piety or the sacrifice of his 
peace, it may be proper for him to a certain extent 
to indulge the social propensities ; but in this case 
it is implied that his highest joys are not gathered 
from such intercourse. Even when he practices it, 
it must be on the principle of rendering the social 
sympathies subservient to his usefulness, of laying 
open opportunities to do good among those with 
whom he associates ; thus making piety the end, 
and social converse the medium, through which it 
is promoted. But, after all, the Christian will find 
that his happiest hours are passed " among the 
saints and near his God," and that the interchange 
of feelings with those who are walking the same 
load, and aiming at the same mark, and encoun- 
tering the same difficulties and dangers, is fraught 
with more real satisfaction than mere social pleas- 
ures, however refined the intercourse or inteiiectuai 
the conversation. 

There is another point of no small importance 
which deserves consideration, namely, the business 
plalges or engagements into which Christians are 



102 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

sometimes drawn, to the injury of their piety and 
the extinguishment of their religious joy. 

Prompted by the desire of success in their busi- 
ness, or listening to injudicious counsel, good men are 
sometimes sadly ensnared by the world. They will 
enter into engagements which, at the time of mak- 
ing them, they sincerely intend to fulfil, not calcu- 
lating upon the possible reverses of the times, noi 
the changeful nature of commercial affairs ; but 
alas, they thus find themselves often sadly com- 
mitted to men who have little sympathy with their 
distress, and less regard still for their reputation as 
Christians. Now for a professor of piety to see 
himself in this snare, and to know that a thousand 
tongues are busy in remarking on his situation, and 
insinuating, perhaps, that "his religion has made 
him no better than he should be," must oppress his 
spirits and annihilate his peace of mind. It is the 
worst policy imaginable for a pious man to stand 
deeply pledged to those who are mere men of the 
world. He should prefer even poverty to this ; nor 
should any counsel of friends, real or pretended, 
nor any hopes of worldly gain, however flatter- 
ing at the time, influence him to such a course 
as may, in the fluctuations of trade, place his char- 
acter for integrity in a suspicious light, and lay 
upon his soul a crushing anxiety. It is impossible 
for a pious man to be happy amid such embarrass 



BUSINESS PLEDGES. 103 

ments, especially if they have come upon him in 
consequence of reckless pledges made under a too 
eager desire for the wealth of this world. 

The man whose heart is weaned from earthly 
attachments, or who has an habitual preference for 
heavenly things, will not be likely to fall into this 
snare ; but, satisfied with moderate success in his 
worldly calling, he will so order his affairs as, if 
possible, "to owe no man any thing" but love. 
At all events, he will make no pledges which he 
has not a fair prospect of redeeming, so that in any 
event his religious character shall not be impugned, 
nor his religious joys extinguished. Such a man 
will retain his equanimity of soul, and go on his 
way rejoicing even when others are "careful and 
troubled about many things." 

It has become customary to prosecute enlarged 
business enterprises by means of joint-stock com- 
panies, and Christian men have found themselves 
often very painfully committed by the operation of 
some of these associations. A majority of the com- 
pany, looking only at the gains which the asso- 
ciation was formed to secure, feel it to be a matter 
of small consequence if in the prosecution of their 
enterprise the holy Sabbath is violated. This is la- 
mentably true of railroad and steam-boat companies 
Now, at the hazard of being considered over-scrupu- 
lous, Christians are called upon not to commit them- 



104 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

selves in any combination whose acts shall conflict 
with the laws of God. It will be of no avail to 
say that " being in a minority they cannot control 
this thing." This is a sort of apology which will 
not stand the test of Christian casuistry, especially 
if, while uttering it, they expect to receive a por- 
tion of the price of desecrated Sabbaths. And if 
Christians find themselves thus implicated in the 
violation of God's holy day, it is their duty as 
speedily as possible to cut loose from the alliance. 

How many consciences have been burdened by 
these indiscreet connections, and how much Chris- 
tian peace has been sacrificed to promote what is 
called public spirit and general improvement. The 
grand question for a pious man to ask and to settle 
before he commits himself in any business transac- 
tion is, whether it can be prosecuted without injury 
to his conscience and the infraction of God's laics, 
He has no right to sacrifice his joy as a Christian 
for all the wealth which mammon can confer. He 
must " seek first the kingdom of God." He " must 
not touch any unclean thing." He must avoid not 
only the reality, but even " the appearance of evil'' 
With these precepts before him, how can a pious 
man enter with any reasonable expectations of suc- 
cess upon a business, either on his individual respon- 
sibility or as a member of a company, which is to 
be prosecuted to the injury of public morals and in 



BUSINESS PLEDGE? 106 

violation of the decalogue ? How can the mind of 
a Christian be at peace while such an imputation 
may be cast upon him ? To obtain and to pre- 
serve true peace of mind, we must keep " a con- 
science void of offence towards God and towards 
men." And how can this be done, if Christians 
will commit themselves to circumstances which 
tmd directly to embarrass conscience and to weaken 
the moral force of divine institutions ? How much 
more to be coveted is the condition of the pious but 
untrammelled artisan, who. content with his daily 
earnings, has none of these equivocal connections to 
tempt him, and none of these implicated social and 
business vices to sully his profession. He can sing 
his hymn of praise at night, and offer his devout 
thanksgiving to God, with no such drawback upon 
his grateful feelings as must be experienced where 
heaven's gifts are coveted and obtained under cir- 
cumstances the morality of which is at least very 
questionable. 

Piety, after all, exerts its influence to make the 
soul happy only where that influence is allowed to 
predominate. It is unreasonable to ask any more 
of it. It is requiring too much to expect that it 
will kindle up its joys in the heart where every 
counteracting influence is courted, or keen alive 
on the altar the fires of devotion when the cold 
flood of earthly cares and pleasures is continually 



106 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

poured upon it to extinguish them. Nor let piety 
be blamed for that absence of felicity which char- 
acterizes so many professors, when, if the case were 
investigated, it would be seen that it is not piety, 
but the want of it, which operates to dim the lustre 
of their example. Let the Christian keep aloof 
from those ensnaring connections to which we have 
alluded ; and acting on the principle that " godli- 
ness with contentment is great gain," let him seek 
mainly and constantly the " one thing needful," 
and his path, if it be less attractive to earthly 
minds, will have the approbation of God, and lead 
the soul to joys that are pure and unending. 



LIGHT READING OPPOSED TO PIETY 107 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE INFLUENCE OF LIGHT READING OPPOSED 10 
THE PROGRESS OF PIETY. 

The apparatus which the great adversary has 
brought into action in order to weaken the moral 
influence of Christians, is varied and well applied. 
To the sources of evil already enumerated, we must 
add the flood of light and ephemeral productions so 
constantly issuing from the English and American 
press. 

These are not of course intended for the eye and 
the mind of the Christian, but are graduated in 
their sentiments and style to the great mass of vol- 
atile spirits who wish for something new and racy 
to kill a heavy hour, and to kindle a little tempo- 
rary excitement. 

But, unhappily, they too often find their way 
into those hands which ought to " handle" instead 
thereof "the word of life." The universal cry is, 
•' Have you read this very interesting work ?" The 
newspapers are lavish in their encomiums, the 
review enlarges on the genius of its author, and the 
fashionist seizes the volume yet reeking from the 
press, in order to be among the first who " have seen 
it." It is not to be wondered at, then, that this 



108 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

tempting bait should find its way into the library 
of a Christian, or be seen among the chaster pro- 
ductions which adorn his parlor table. What 
1 ' every body reads," it is inferred, "ought to be 
read by me. I shall be singular not to have pe- 
rused it when the whole town are descanting upon 
its merits." So, with a little such reasoning, 
backed by that fondness for novelty and excite- 
ment which piety may repress, but does not extin- 
guish, the Bible is suddenly closed, and the flip- 
pant volume is already riveting the attention, 

It came at the hoar of evening prayer. It 
seemed as if the spiritual foe, anticipating the time 
when the Christian was to have been on his knees, 
taking by " violence the kingdom of heaven," sent 
this light-armed enemy to divert his attention and 
to deprive him of the hallowed enjoyment. But 
will he allow the intruder to rob him of his devo- 
tions ? Will not only the Bible but prayer be post- 
poned until the exciting tale is ended ? Alas, it is to 
be feared, when once the fascination has commenced, 
that the charm will not be broken even by the 
voice of conscience muttering in undertones of mis- 
spent time and neglected duties. The midnight 
hour has come, the last leaf is cut, and the book is 
closed. Now ask the interested reader what are 
his or her feelings ? Are they in tune for devotion ? 
Does the excited mind, reconning the incidents and 



LIGHT READING OPPOSED TO PIETY. 109 

revolving the whole scene, return with satisfaction 
to communion with its Bihle ? Is there not an 
oppressive sense of wrong which scarcely admits of 
even a hurried prayer ? Does not the soul, on the 
su3ceeding day, carry somewhat of a depressed air, 
as if violence had heen done to its "better feelings, 
which, like a wound inflicted on the body, must bleed 
for a season ere they can be healed. Conscience 
is quick to perceive a wrong, and never fails to 
administer its retributive reproofs. However ear- 
nestly some may plead for the lawfulness of this 
species of reading, all Christians will allow that 
they are not the happier for its indulgence. Life's 
hours are too precious, and its duties too serious 
and responsible, to allow the one to be consumed 
and the other to be postponed or set aside for such 
vanities. 

It is not worth our while here to discuss the 
question, whether in no case these works may be 
innocently perused. The object of these pages 
being to promote the joys of piety, and to caution 
its professors against whatever is likely to impede 
them, the writer feels himself called upon to state 
only the general injurious tendency of such pro- 
ductions. He would recommend to the Christian 
who wishes to avoid every means of deterioration, 
habitual abstinence from this frivolous species of 
reading. If we are singular in this respect, it 



HO WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

will be in exact accordance with the divine inten- 
tion in redeeming us, "that we might be a 'peculiar 
people." 

There is an immense amount of light periodical 
reading, embracing reviews, the periodical miscel- 
lany, the daily and weekly newspaper, which would 
urge itself upon the Christian's attention, and which 
is designed to occupy only the interstices of his time 
But who has not felt the pernicious influence of 
this ephemeral reading in absorbing not merely the 
leisure hour, but valuable portions of the day, and 
invading even the sacred season allotted to devo- 
tion ? Where this is the case, it must be conceded 
that they become serious impediments to the fruits 
of piety, and that no Christian can look for peace 
and joy from his religion, if he listen to these rival 
claimants, and permit his mind to be the sport of 
so many counteracting influences. Our time is too 
precious to allow of such heavy drafts from these 
importunate visitors, who, in many cases, have 
nothing to recommend them but a fine dress and a 
flippant tongue. A Christian mind cannot give 
some of them audience without derogating from its 
dignity, nor converse intimately with them without 
acquiring an injurious taint from the contact. 

The writer would be understood as admitting 
exceptions ; and, far from a general proscription of 
periodical works, he would recommend a judicious 



LIGHT READING OPPOSED TO PIETY. Hi 

selection as highly important and useful. But in 
this case he must urge the importance of giving 
them their legitimate place as to the interest which 
they claim, and the time which is employed in pe- 
rusing them. If there is a fondness for such reading 
which weakens our attachment to the Bible and to 
works of practical piety, we have reason to suspect 
that already their influence has become injurious. 
If important Christian duties are neglected or post 
poned to gratify this thirst for news or the mere 
indulgence of our taste, it is evident we have allowed 
this reading a place which its comparative insig- 
nificance and our Christian obligations will not 
justify. We thus allow it to rob us of our peace of 
conscience, the possession of which is indispensable 
to our pious joy. How admirably does piety adjust 
these varying claims, giving to man a scale by 
which he can know how much importance to attach 
to each, and in what place the several duties and 
pleasures of life shall fall. If we attempt to reverse 
this order, or fail to recognize the great principle on 
which it is founded, to " seek first the kingdom ot 
God," we at once put " darkness for light and light 
for darkness ;" we " fall into temptation and a 
snare ;" our Christian peace is interrupted, and we 
" pierce ourselves through with many sorrows." 
Aware of this, the truly devoted and happy Chris- 
tian determines on a systematic life, in which every 



112 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

duty shall have precedence according to its impor- 
tance ; time shall be so allotted as to meet and 
settle the highest claims first, and even the inno- 
cent gratifications shall have a place, but not such 
a place as shall disqualify the soul for its great 
work, or weaken its desires for the pure joys of 
devotion. 



CONTROVERSY OPPOSED TO PIOUS JOY. \ 13 



CHAPTER XX. 

fHE SPIRIT OF CONTROVERSY OPPOSED TO THi:. 
EXERCISE OF PIOUS JOY. 

There is but one more positive obstruction to 
the joy of salvation which shall claim the consider- 
ation of the reader — it is the spirit of religious con- 
tention. 

" Offences must come," and differences of opinion 
in relation to religious doctrines will exist, and 
hence we may infer that the collision of opposing 
sects, and of members of the same sect, with shades 
of difference, will operate more or less among the 
armies of Israel. This is owing in part to human 
infirmity, but much more perhaps to human de- 
pravity. 

It is not in place here to enter fully into the cir- 
cumstances which allow, and in some cases even 
oblige good men to engage in the polemics of 
religion. None can doubt that such occasions do 
exist, and that Christians would betray their high 
trust if they were to suffer in silence divine truth to 
be impugned and souls to be endangered by its per- 
version. But with this concession, how evident is 
it that controversy is entered upon in many cases 
where neither the amount of difference nor the 

VVhoorellaupvl 8 



114 WHO ARE THE KAPTY? 

causes of provocation are sufficient to justify it 
All the sad consequences on the peace of Christians, 
and in prejudicing religion in the eyes of the wor .d, 
are incurred when the diversity of belief is so unim- 
portant as, by the judgment of both parties, invali- 
dates not the claim of either to true piety. If al 
such cases were at once withdrawn from the field 
of conflict, and those left which regard only funda- 
mental principles, what a sudden calm would suc- 
ceed the now agitated and tempestuous scene. How 
soon would the ark settle down upon its resting- 
place, the waters abate, and the bow of promise 
gladden our eyes. 

If this spirit of controversy could be confined to 
the mettlesome leaders in the affray, it would save 
piety from a vast amount of injury. But when the 
spirit of strife and contention is made to pervade 
large sections of the church, and the humble Chris- 
tian, even in his retirement, is compelled to hear 
and to respond to the startling notes of the war- 
trumpet, to buckle on his armor and rush to the 
conflict, God's Israel becomes like a vast military 
encampment, where nothing is to be heard but the 
preparation-notes of battle, or the clangor of resound- 
ing arms. 

Now, as the deadliest strife among nations often 
derives its origin from slight causes, so this ecclesi- 
astical warfare is waged many times for the settle 






CONTROVERSY OTTOSED TO PIETY. H5 

merit of points where the actual difference is the 
most difficult point of all to be ascertained. The 
fierceness of the struggle, however, instead of being, 
as one would suppose, proportioned to the magni- 
tude of the errors, is often greater as the points of 
difference diminish. How does piety languish, and 
how do her joys fade away, before this collision cf 
excited minds ; in which, instead of provoking one 
another to " love and to good works/' the main 
effort appears to be to enlist the greatest number of 
suffrages to a party, and to wield the mightiest in- 
fluence. The avenues of Zion, like the open gates 
of Janus, are ringing with the tramp of combatants, 
or echoing to the shouts of victory. Party leaders 
seem resolved that no Christian shall stand neutral 
in any given strife ; and that, be the points at issue 
more or less important, each one must declare 
openly for or against the party. They take their 
stand on the high places, like Saul at Gibeah, and 
hewing their sacrifice in pieces, send them abroad 
over the land, declaring that " so shall it be done 
unto " the man who rallies not under their standard. 
The Christian who is enabled to stand aloof from 
this warfare is privileged indeed. It is wholly ad- 
verse to the growth of piety, and if participated in 
to any considerable extent, must inevitably rob the 
soul of its felicity. Who can enumerate the topics 
of religious strife which in various assemblies and 



J16 WHO ARE THE HAPPY" 

through various publications are now thrust upon 
the attention of the church ? How many combina- 
tions are formed with a view to coerce almost the 
Christian into their ranks. What various conflict- 
ing claims are presented among members of the 
same communion. The excitement which all this 
produces cannot be friendly to the development of 
spiritual religion. It cannot promote "the peace- 
able fruits of righteousness," except on the principle 
that God may overrule one of the greatest afflictions 
of our Zion to the furtherance of her joy. 

There is nothing in our religion which tends to 
produce this spirit of contention. It is pacific in its 
design and in its commands. The soul that has 
felt its influence is full of love to all mankind. It 
takes its tone from Him who came " not to destroy 
men's lives, but to save them." 

What a variety of beautiful texts might be cited 
to show how opposite to this contentious spirit is 
the whole tenor of the gospeL " A new command- 
ment I give unto you, That ye love one another." 
11 Love worketh no ill to his neighbor ; therefore 
love is the fulfilling of the law." " Be kindly affec- 
tioned one to another with brotherly love ; in honor 
preferring one another." " Be pitiful, be courteous." 
" The servant of the Lord must not strive, but be 
gentle unto all men." " While one saith, I am of 
Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are ye not 



CONTROVERSY OPPOSED TO PIETY. H7 

carnal?" " Be perfect, be of one mind, live in 
peace." " Charity is the bond of perfectness." 
" Charity sufFereth long, and is kind. Charity is 
not easily provoked, beareth all things, hopeth all 
things, endureth all things." " And now abideth 
faith, hope, charity, these three ; but the greatest 
of these is charity." 

In view of the manifest injury to the soul which 
the spirit of religious controversy inflicts, and with 
these passages of Scripture before us, how can we 
expect to retain our Christian peace and joy while 
mingling in the conflict ? 

But it may be replied, " Truth must be main- 
tained, and it is necessary that some individuals 
should consent, even against their wish, to stand 
forth as her champions." This has already been 
conceded ; but with the concession it is still lament- 
ably true that the present times are fearfully rife 
with causes of contention which, in themselves com- 
paratively unimportant, are magnified to that de- 
gree, that the struggle is as heated and violent as if 
the very ark of God was threatened with annihila- 
tion. This spirit is breathed into the church all 
over the land, and operates like the passage of a 
tornado to uproot and desolate the verdant beauties 
of Zion ; or, if this figure be too strong, we will call 
it a kind of malaria which, insinuating itself into 
every section of the church, causes cold shiveriugs 



118 VVHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

and feeble pulses in men who were wont to rejoice 
in the full vigor of health. Such has been its effect 
in our land, and piety has greatly declined in her 
attractiveness, and been deprived of much of her 
influences, while a scoffing world has felt at liberty 
to cavil at our faith and to question the sincerity of 
our professions. Piety has been blamed for that 
which she has all the while been aiming to destroy, 
a spirit of unholy contention ; and it becomes true 
Christians to rescue her from these aspersions by 
exemplifying the charity which she recommends 



FAVORABLE CIRCUMSTANCES. H9 



CHAPTER XXI. 

CIRCUMSTANCES FAVORABLE TO THE PROMOTION 
OF PIOUS JOY. 

It will be seen from the foregoing pages, that 
the charge which is sometimes preferred against 
religion is wholly without foundation : that if a 
cloud rest upon a Christian's brow, or any gloom 
pervade his soul, it is not piety that produces it, 
but it comes, in most instances, from the obstruc- 
tions alluded to, which prevent piety from exerting 
its legitimate influence. 

Only such hinderances have been noticed as are 
prominent in our day, and peculiar somewhat to our 
age and country. If Christians will avoid these, 
and give to piety an unobstructed sway over the 
soul, she will doubtless soon produce those lovely 
fruits which in the Scriptures are ascribed to her 
influence. " The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, 
peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 
meekness, temperance." For illustration on this 
point we may advert again to the analogy of nature. 
When it is intended to cultivate the fruits of the 
earth, or to call forth the flowers and foliage which 
are to adorn it, the first important step is to remove 
the obstructions and place the desired vegetation in 



120 WHO ARE THE HATPY? 

circumstances favorable for its growth. The nature 
of the soil is carefully attended to. The exposed- 
ness of the plant to boisterous winds or nipping 
frosts is considered. Every precautionary method 
is considered to prop or to bind it, to lay it open to 
the sun, or to shield it from a too intense action of 
his rays. It cannot be reasonably expected that 
the plant will thrive and put on its lovely dress 
without all this care and culture. If the soil is 
overgrown with weeds and obstructed by stones, 01 
if this delicate plant is left to be beaten by the 
winds or smitten by the sunbeam, how can we look 
for the natural and proper development of its 
beauties ? 

Nor is it otherwise with the fruits of the Spirit 
The soul that is left exposed to every adverse influ- 
ence will present a moral condition analogous to 
that of the neglected plant. Chilling winds will in- 
vade it. Blighting frosts will silently wither it, and 
if it still retain some appearance of life, it will be 
so stinted in its growth and so barren in its aspect 
as to excite a melancholy feeling in the beholder. 
On the other hand, if " G-od's husbandry" is prop- 
erly cultivated, and the tender plants are shielded 
from unfriendly influences — if the culture is in any 
degree proportioned to the importance and excel- 
lency of the expected fruit, there will not be a 
more attractive sight in the universe than these 



FAVORABLE CIRCUMSTANCES. 121 

"trees of righteousness" flourishing with well- 
watered roots and unwithering leaves. 

If God has given us facilities in the one field, so 
has he in the other ; and if in the one case the 
reward is proportioned to the care and labor, it is» 
no less certain and generous in the other. 

In the productions of the earth we have the rain 
and the dew, the light and the shade, the heat and 
the cold, all operating in such due proportion on the 
soil as to warm into life and call forth into beauti- 
ful forms that which is the object of our care. 
And is it otherwise with the soul whose graces are 
to be developed under a faithful spiritual culture ? 
Has not God promised, with equal explicitness, 
" Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also 
reap ?" Has he not declared, that " as the rain 
cometh down from heaven and returneth not 
thither, but watereth the earth and maketh it 
bring forth, that it may give seed to the sower and 
bread to the eater, so shall his word be that goeth 
forth out of his mouth ?" As certainly as the dew 
distils on the flower, and the sunbeam falls upon 
and enlivens it, so surely will God give his Spirit 
to refresh, and the light of his countenance to cheer 
that soul "who diligently seeketh him." 

To this established connection between the use 
of means and the certain production of pious fruits, 
we mu^t add the very extraordinary facilities for 



122 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

the full development of the Christian graces which 
are found in our highly favored land. 

If the Christian does not daily advance in his 
upward path, it will not be for the want of means 
and appliances. If any obscurity lest upon his soul, 
it will not be owing to a diminution of light in the 
moral atmosphere. " The Sun of righteousness has 
arisen upon us with healing in his wings." There 
is a flood- tide of salvation poured down upon us. 
No people on earth are more richly endowed in this 
respect. The manna falls upon us daily, and in 
great abundance. The pillar of cloud is before us 
by day, and the pillar of fire by night. The silver 
trumpet of the Levites is ringing continually in our 
ears, and the cleft rock is pouring out at our feet the 
waters of life. Is there any reason why we should 
not joyfully march on our way? 

To constitute the happy Christian, two depart- 
ments of labor must be occupied. The one respects 
the duties which we owe to ourselves, and embraces 
the exercises of the closet, such as prayer, self- 
examination, and the study of the Scriptures. These 
are of primary importance ; and it is out of the 
question to expect pious joy where they are neglected 
or discharged in a superficial manner.* But scarcely 
less important, especially in forming the character 

* These duties have been recommended and illustrated m 
a former work — the "Advice to a Young Christian " 




FAVORABLE CIRCUMSTANCES. 123 

of the happy Christian, is the department of labor 
which respects the good of others, which aims to 
carry out our influence upon all whom it is possible 
to reach and to bless. The spirit of the gospel is not 
evinced nor its joys experienced, without a faithful 
occupation of our talents and a conformity by self- 
denying labors to Him " who went about doing good." 
" To do good unto all men as we have opportunity, " 
is the grand rule ; estimating the pressure of the 
obligation according to the nature of the good and 
the ability and opportunity to bestow it. Now the 
Christian who is faithful in the one department, 
will be very likely to be faithful in the other. He 
who lives near the private altar, and gathers there 
his motives and feeds there his zeal, will be ready 
to embrace every opening to be useful which the 
providence of God shall disclose. He will not be 
" standing al] the day idle," and crying, with folded 
hands, " No man hath hired me." 

It has pleased Providence to place before his 
church in our day facilities for doing good, and for 
extending the cause of truth and righteousness, 
more numerous and in greater variety than per- 
haps were ever known before. There is hence no 
apology for indolence or inactivity. Not one in 
the spiritual community can say, " There is nothing 
for me to do." The work is graduated to the ability 
tf every saint, not excepting the most indigent 



124 WHO ARE THE HAPTY? 

Each may, if he think proper, select that depart- 
ment of benevolence which is best suited to his 
circumstances. Such being the case, it is evident 
that no pious person can be happy if he withhold 
good from him that needeth, when God has put it 
in his power to do this good ; for, " to him that 
knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is 
gin." 



THE USEFUL CHRISTIAN HAPPY. 126 

CHAPTER XXII. 

THE USEFUL CHRISTIAN HAPPY. 

It is not intended to prescribe to the reader the 
*rays or methods which it is his particular duty to 
idopt, in order to exert a proper Christian influence 
upon others> but rather to exhibit the necessity of 
uniting good works with devotional habits. This 
anion, we maintain, is indispensable to a full and 
scriptural development of true piety. Without it, 
we cannot fulfil the commands of God, nor tread in 
the footsteps of our Redeemer. " To do good, and 
to communicate, forget not ; for with such sacrifices 
God is well pleased. " It is therefore a settled prin- 
ciple, that no Christian can be happy who is not 
useful ; indeed, it would admit of a question, whether 
any soul can be the subject of renewing grace, who 
is not in some way engaged in direct acts of benevo- 
lence. Yet it must be confessed, that many profes- 
sors of religion seem to find some apology for inac- 
tion in all that respects self-denying efforts to extend 
the influence of piety. 

The facilities for putting forth this influence have 
been alluded to, and ought to be well considered by 
all who have enlisted " as good soldiers of Jesus 
Christ " It is needless to enumerate them, since 



126 WHO are tup: happy? 

they are familiar to all They come to our very 
doors, and tender themselves to our acceptance. We 
can do good by our money, by our labor, by our 
conversation, and by our prayers. We can do good 
in the family, in the neighborhood, in the church, 
and throughout the world. Numerous channels are 
opened in the providence of God, through which we 
can carry out Christian influence not only over our 
own land, but to the most distant and degraded spot 
on earth. Our charities can take wing and light 
upon the very place where we think them most 
needed. We may find the objects of our benevo 
lent regard already arranged and classified, so that 
we have only to select where and upon whom that 
benevolence shall flow, and the work may com- 
mence. With such opportunities of influence, it is 
clear that none but he who avails himself of some 
of them, and endeavors to acquire and sustain the 
character of a faithful servant, can be a happy 
Christian. God has done all this to invite us to 
become coworkers with himself in accomplishing 
the grand designs of his mercy. If we hold back, 
or if we leave the work to others, while under the 
influence of some futile apology we seek the things 
of earth, it is a very dark sign against us, and wo 
may well tremble under the apprehension of being 
addressed at last as " wicked and slothful servants." 
On this subject, however, there is room for many 



THE USE1UL CHRISTIAN HAPPY. 127 

modifications of personal duty and responsibility. 
Christians are placed in very different circumstance* 
as to their means of usefulness and their opportuni- 
ties for doing good. All these circumstances the eye 
of heaven notices and considers. Some are poor, 
and their responsibilities are modified by their lowly 
condition. In them we look for the virtues of in- 
dustry, frugality, and temperance, but cannot expect 
them to give their time or their money, except as 
they consider it a privilege to contribute their mite, 
which it undoubtedly is even to the poorest. But 
such can pray, can meekly reprove vice, can let the 
light of their example — not the less attractive for 
their poverty — shine upon their ungodly neighbors. 
Some are mothers — deeply responsible and highly 
useful condition — with young immortals cast upon 
their care, whose moral training no circumstances, 
save those of dire necessity, should tempt them to 
neglect. There is no province on earth more im- 
portant than this. We will excuse the Christian 
mother, under the pressure of maternal responsi- 
bility, from many, if not all the conspicuous chari- 
ties of the day. If she is, under God, moulding the 
character of her offspring, in order to qualify them 
for life's duties and for heaven's eternal joys, we 
will say to her, " Go on, and God be with you ; 
and although some may stand forth more in the 
gunlight of observation, while you are laboring in 



128 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

the shade, the end will prove that your vocation 
was at least as important as theirs." 

The invalid and the aged are exempted, by the 
providence of God, from some labors, but are under 
obligation to perform others of which even their 
circumstances may admit. The great and all- 
important point is to have the spirit of doing good — 
an eye that watches for opportunities, and a hand 
ready to seize on them as they are unfolded. With 
this spirit in exercise, no Christian will be at a loss 
for occasions to let his light shine, nor for subjects 
on which to expend benevolent action. 

We are not opposed to a division of labor, but we 
do object to the method pursued by some Christians, 
of selecting a favorite department of benevolence, 
and aiming to carry it forward under the idea of 
its paramount claims. Such a course can seldom 
be pursued without prejudice to some other good 
cause ; and if others who prefer a different depart- 
ment adopt the same course, the whole subject of 
public charities is placed before the world in a 
prejudiced light. 

A Christian's usefulness is not always in propor- 
tion to the space he fills in the public eye, nor to 
the amount of discursive influence which he may 
be able to cast abroad over the wide field of exer- 
tion Some men may deem it their duty to sow 
the seed by all waters. With native ardor of tern- 



THE USEFUL CHRISTIAN HAPPY. 19Q 

pera ment, and with a zeal, kindled we trust by a 
coal from heaven's altar, they may take wing and 
visit a thousand places, and make their influence 
fell over a boundless space. The seed which they 
scatter may in some instances take root, but ths 
real amount of good accomplished in such cases 
cannot be ascertained. Others may select for them- 
selves a limited spot in the vineyard, and in humble 
dependence on God, apply their energies to its cul- 
tivation. In instances of this description the work 
is with less public observation, but the amount of 
actual good accomplished may exceed that of the 
more brilliant and discursive laborer. It has this 
advantage also, that the fruits are visible ; and the 
moral change, as in the case of a barren spot in 
nature reclaimed to fertility, is the more gratifying 
from the recollection of its former disheartening 
appearance. 

Without, then, assigning to a Christian the pecu- 
liar field which he shall cultivate, we would simply 
urge him to be useful in the circumstances in which 
G od has placed him — to shrink from no labor which 
Providence seems to impose, nor to anticipate hap- 
piness except in the diligent discharge of all his 
duties. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it 
with thy might ; for there is no work, nor device, 
nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whither 
thou goest." 

Who arc Happf J 



130 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

THE JOY OF CONTENTMENT. j 

''Godliness with contentment "■ says St. Paul. 
" is great gain." It would seem from this declara- 
tion as if godliness was not always accompanied Dy 
contentment. There can be no doubt, however, 
that the design and tendency of true piety is to pro- 
mote a contented spirit, and where this effect does 
not take place, we are obliged to suppose something 
peculiar in the disposition of the individual to thwart 
its influence. 

Instances might be cited where the evidence of 
piety is not wanting, and yet with such constitu- 
tional peculiarities as to hinder its action in a given 
direction. There is an " easily besetting sin " which 
piety must combat for a great length of time ere it 
be brought into habitual subjection. How intimate 
the connection is between this "besetting sin" and 
the physical weaknesses of the individual, it is not 
easy to say ; but there is reason to believe that some 
sins acquire power from this connection. There 
are also hereditary infirmities, and the secret influ- 
ence of disease, which operate upon certain minds, 
and counteract the tendency of religion to soothe 
and to cheer them. 



JOY OF CONTENTMENT. 131 

How diversified are the natural dispositions of 
men. Some are impetuous and ardent, and others 
are sluggish in their affections and feelings. Some 
are restless in whatsoever situation they may be ; 
and others, when once in a particular place or call- 
ing, seem never to wish for any change. Now, 
when piety takes effect on these varying dispositions, 
it modifies, but does not completely change them. 
The ardent disposition will evince itself in religion 
.as it did before in earthly pleasures, and the man 
of a dull, lethargic spirit will be likely to move on 
with timid pace in the new path which he has 
begun to travel. The restless temper, ever seeking 
some change, will find more difficulty in cultivating 
the grace of contentment, even after embracing a 
life of piety, than the even-tempered man, whose 
very nature disinclines him to change. 

It is clear also, that we cannot estimate truly the 
strength of piety from a comparison of individuals 
on a given point. The two cases alluded to afford 
an illustration of this. In the one case, content- 
ment would argue a higher degree of piety, because 
strong constitutional tendencies are to be overcome. 
In the other, it would furnish less decisive evidence 
of piety, inasmuch as the constitutional tendencies 
rather favor than oppose the exercise of this virtue. 
In this latter case, godliness is as it were super- 
added to contentment, and there is even under these 



132 WHO ARE THE HAPP/? 

circumstances " great gain." The life of such an 
individual flows on in a noiseless current, and is on 
the whole tranquil and happy. But in the former 
example, if to godliness the individual can add con- 
tentment, it is a still greater gain ; for it is the vic- 
tory of religious principle over powerful constitu- 
tional impediments, and the joys of the triumph are 
added to the peaceful virtue which has been earned 
after a hard-fought battle. 

If we discovei our besetting sin it is one impo?- 
tant point gained, and our duty is then plainly 
before us, by God's grace, to enter the lists against it. 

How many Christians are uneasy and restless 
under the circumstances in which Providence has 
placed them. If they have godliness, it is mani- 
festly not accompanied as habitually as it ought to 
be by contentment. It need not be said that pious 
joy is inseparable from a contented frame of mind ; 
nor that, where the soul is dissatisfied with its 
allotment in life, there is envy and even secret 
murmuring. 

On no point, perhaps, are Christians more fre- 
quently tempted than on this. They see other men 
pursuing, with unobstructed and successful career, 
the wealth and the honors of the world. They 
look upon their outward estate, and wonder why 
Providence should have made such a difference ; 
not remembering that this very difference may be 



JOY OF CONTENTMENT. 133 

in their favor, and that while the worldling is 
receiving his good things in this life, God is pre- 
paring something "better for the Christian. Even 
the psalmist was almost ready to call in question 
the rectitude of the divine government, " when he 
saw the prosperity of the wicked." But his " envy 
at the foolish" vanished quickly when he "went 
into the sanctuary of God." There he " saw their 
end." He saw the " slippery places" of power and 
wealth without godliness, and he condemned him- 
self for being " ignorant" on a point so plain. 

It has pleased God, for the good of his people and 
in love to their souls, to appoint most of them a 
lowly lot in life. He has thus exempted them from 
"the deceitfulness of riches," and from many of the 
corroding cares of the world. Full scope is thus 
given for the development of their piety, and a com- 
paratively unobstructed course is laid open to them 
to run their Christian race. Shall any complain at 
this, or sigh to think that God has not hedged up 
their way to heaven by the conflicts of ambition or 
the oppressive anxiety which is connected with 
golden stores ? Only let them fully understand 
their favorable position in life, and they will readily 
perceive, that if piety is to be the fountain of their 
felicity, their situation is much the most favorable 
for realizing its joys. In view of it one is ready to 
exclaim, in the language of Virgil depicting the 



134 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

happy state of the humble swain, and which is 
even more applicable to humble and moderately 
endowed Christians, ' : fortunatos nimium, sua si 
bona norint " — Thrice happy they who appreciate 
the blessings of their lot. Happy indeed would 
they be, if they could appreciate the good which 
God has connected with their state, and learn that 
divine lesson which Paul had learned, " in whatso 
ever situation he was, therewith to be content." 

The state of mind which we are recommending 
is not opposed to lawful exertion, put forth in ordei 
to better our outward condition. Christianity in no 
instance paralyzes the springs of activity and honor- 
able enterprise. Nor does contentment imply the 
duty of remaining in an inferior station w r hen Prov- 
idence plainly says, " Go up higher." A Christian 
may make this advance without any discontent- 
ment with his former, and perhaps inferior position. 
If God has appointed to him the humblest occupa- 
tion or the most obscure post of labor, he is bound 
to be satisfied, and on the ground that it is God's 
appointment ; but he is not compelled to remain in 
it when the same sovereign hand opens before him 
another and a wider field of influence. 

Contentment is opposed to restlessness in a given 
situation, accompanied by so strong a wish for a 
better as disqualifies the soul in a great measure for 
the discharge of its present obligations. This rest- 



JOY OF CONTENTMENT. \Sb 

lessness is utterly opposed to true peace of mind. 
It is a struggle against the manifest will of heaven. 
No Christian can be happy in the indulgence of 
such a feeling. 

The joy of contentment is a tranquil and happy 
emotion. It enables the soul to sit undisturbed 
amid the fluctuations of this changeful scene. It 
has a smile as bright in the cloudy as in the clear 
day, and can sing its grateful song as well in a 
lowly as in a lofty situation. The Christian surely 
need not deprive himself of this joy. What to him 
should be the ephemeral distinctions of earth, when 
he is expecting, after a few revolving suns, to wear 
a crown brighter than the jewelled toy that rests 
upon an earthly brow, and to inherit a kingdom 
richer in its resources than ail the kingdoms of the 
world ? 



L36 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

SUBMISSION. 

Does piety make her disciples only contented ? 
Is this the extent of her triumphs ? Does she not 
make them submissive and resigned, under the 
deepest afflictions of life ? Her power to counter- 
act the evils of this fallen state, appears most con- 
spicuous amid the darkest scenes which Providence 
gathers around her path. Then does she come to 
illustrate that promise which, in view of every pos- 
sible gradation of mortal suffering, declares, " As 
thy days, so shall thy strength be." 

There are but few Christians who live for any 
length of time without some trials ; so few, indeed, 
as only to form rare exceptions to that general in- 
heritance of tribulation which our Lord decreed 
should be the portion of his followers. " In the 
world ye shall have tribulation." These afflictions 
arc various in kind and in degree. In particular 
cases they are wholly of a spiritual kind, and have 
reference to the inward conflicts of the soul. Some- 
times this species of suffering is the most intense 
and insupportable which can be conceived. But 
more generally they have reference to the peculiar 
outward state, temporal or social, in which God 



submission. 137 

places his children, with a view to the cultivation 
of the passive virtues, such as gentleness, patience, 
and submission. Poverty and persecution, disap- 
pointed earthly expectations, alienated friendship, 
sickness and bereavement, are among the principal 
burdens which are laid upon the soul and body to 
serve as the occasion of eliciting the lovely grace 
of submission. The Christian's perfection, that is, 
the completeness of his character, cannot be at- 
tained without this suffering in some form, nor 
without its effect in the development of patience 
and submission. How else could he "fill up that 
which is behind of the afflictions of Christ ?" 
Where else, or under what other circumstances 
could he know the "fellowship of Christ's suffer- 
ings ?" Nature shrinks from the ordeal. The fiery 
furnace is intimidating, and we dread to enter it, 
even though we have the assurance that we shall 
come forth unharmed, yea, even like gold purified 
and brightened by the process. But an invisible 
hand will arrange all these circumstances of trial, 
and introduce us to them in such a way as to give 
them their happiest effect upon the soul. God will 
adjust the burden to the back, and give the staff of 
his promise, and enable us to hold on our way even 
over a dark and rugged path. 

Let us contemplate the sufferer. There is a man 
who has labored hard and long to acquire the mean* 



J38 WHO ARE THE HAPPY.' 

of temporal support, but one adverse blast after an- 
other has swept away his property, until he begins 
to look around upon his loved ones with actual 
solicitude. Another glance at life's moving pano 
rama shows us the lone widow, with her orphans at 
her knee, looking up into her anxious and sorrow- 
shrouded face to ask why that tear is there. Here 
is one nailed to the sick couch, and week after week 
inquiring for some slight indication of a favorable 
change. The physician's eye speaks no encourage- 
ment. A mother is bending over the short-breath 
ing child, and kissing its burning brow. It is her 
earthly all. A husband stands petrified over the 
cold remains of her whom he loved from youth. 
death, thou hast dipped thine arrows in the 
deadliest venom ! Yonder sits one leaning mourn- 
fully forward and brooding over violated vows. 
Alas, credulous heart, those vows were but the im- 
pulse of passion, whose flame was kindled at no 
pure altar. The domestic circle, that promised 
elysium, is not always the heaven that was antici- 
pated. The friends who in sunshine wore such 
complacent smiles, can pass on with averted eye, 
now that life wears a dreary aspect. How diversi- 
fied and deep are the afflictions which meet us in 
our passage through this vale of tears ! 

But there is one thing, and one only, which can 
make the soul the better for them. It is true "piety ; 



SUBMISSION. 139 

and where this is in exercise, they become, under 
God, the secret agents of ripening the sufferer for 
the skies "When the soul submits to the dispensa- 
tion with true Christian resignation, it can be even 
"joyful in tribulation." By this we mean, that the 
consolations may so preponderate as to give a de- 
cided prominence to the peaceful and happy feel- 
ings over that anguish which nature must ever feel 
when the stream of her earthly pleasures is inter- 
rupted. Hence, we often find the good man sitting 
calm amidst circumstances calculated to work up a 
tempest in the bosom. He has his eye not simply 
on the affliction, but on the hand that has caused 
it, and he experiences along with the wound the 
healing balm which faith applies. 

See, then, the advantage which piety gives in a 
world like ours, where almost every avenue we 
tread leads to some grievous disappointment or deep 
affliction. When the shaft strikes the man of the 
world, what has he wherewith to medicate the 
rankling wound ? While exempt from personal 
suffering, and while his sources of happiness are 
left open to him, he can wear as cheerful a coun- 
tenance as the Christian. But invade the paradise 
of his joys ; cut down his loved ones, and let the 
elements consume his earthly substance ; bid mes- 
senger after messenger, as in the case of Job, fly to 
inform him of successive disasters, and at length 



140 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

touch his own body, and " make its beauty to con- 
sume away like a moth" — where is his joy now ? 
What staff has he now to lean upon ? No min- 
gling resignation is there to calm his troubled breast, 
and no heart-felt submission to the divine will in 
view of God's righteoim dealings. The mind must 
pore upon the dark picture, unrelieved by even a 
ray from the opening heavens. 

Now the Christian is authorized, and even com- 
manded to " rejoice in the Lord always ;" to " glory 
in tribulations ; knowing that tribulation worketh 
patience ; and patience, experience ; and experi- 
ence, hope : and hope maketh not ashamed, be- 
cause the love of God is shed abroad in the heart." 

On what a slender foundation rests the world- 
ling's joy ! It is like the plant which springs from 
the stony ground ; it seems for a season to shoot 
forth with rank luxuriance, but it has no depth of 
soil ; its roots are insufficient to support it. While 
all is calm it may cast forth its shoots, and even put 
on some appearances of beauty. But when the storm 
rises and mingling elements are invading it, how 
fares it then? " I have seen the wicked in great 
power, and spreading himself like a green bay-tree. 
Yet he passed away, and lo, he was not : yea, I 
sought him, but he could not be found.'' 

How permanent is the basis of a Christian's joy ! 
Its roots are strongly imbedded like the cedar of 



SUBMISSION. 



141 



Lebanon ; no wind that blows can battle it down. 
The very tempest that beats upon it only adds to 
its stability, and rivets it more firmly to its founda- 
tion. This joy grows not on earth, nor depends for 
its aliment on the smiles which earth can bestow. 
It is planted in heaven, and is watered by that 
stream which makes glad the city of God. How 
then can it wither ? How can the failing sources 
of this world endanger the extinction of that which 
blooms on the eternal hills ? Why need the Chris- 
tian despond, even when all else is gone ? Why 
may he not smile amid the wreck of his earthly 
hopes, when he can look up and claim God as his 
portion, and heaven as his eternal home ? 



142 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 



CHAPTER XXV. 



JOY m DEATH. 

Christian submission extends to all the darii 
and trying dispensations of the present state. It 
includes even the stroke of death. It says with 
the last expiring breath, " Thy will be done." The 
triumph is the greater, because the approach of the 
destroyer is distinctly contemplated, and the conse- 
quences of death both to the prepared and unpre- 
pared are vividly before the mind. 

The faith of the Christian invests the hour of 
dissolution with a solemnity which respects not 
merely all that is to be left behind, nor all that is 
repulsive in the cold aspect of death, but what is 
to be experienced when the soul is disengaged from 
the body and goes to heaven's tribunal. The retri- 
butions of eternity are full in view. The dying 
saint as fully believes in a hell tc which the wick- 
ed will be driven, as he believes in a heaven to 
which the righteous will be welcomed. He has no 
more doubt that he who believeth not will be 
damned, than he has that he who believeth will be 
saved. His views on this great doctrine of eternal 
retributions are clear and distinct, and he ap- 
proaches the crisis under their full influence. He 
has also the conviction, stronger now then ever be- 



JOY IN DEATH. 143 

fore, that no native traits of amiableness nor self- 
originated virtues can afford him the least hope of 
acceptance before God. He sees, in the retrospect, 
that these supposed virtues are deficient in motive, 
and they vanish before the accumulated sins which 
have attended him at every step of his mortal jour- 
ney. What then gives him peace in death, or how 
can he expect to triumph in that fearful hour ? 
" The sting" of death is sin, and the strength of sin 
is the law. But thanks be to God. which giveth 
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" 
What gives poignancy to death's arrow is sin, and 
what makes this sin so potent to destroy is the vio- 
lated law; but in the case of the believer, "the 
blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin," and 
this same Saviour " is the end of the law for right- 
eousness to every one that believeth." Leaning, 
then, wholly on the " arm of his Beloved," the 
Christian may come to this fearful point without 
terror, or even apprehension. " Who shall separate 
him from the love of God?" Shall " death ?" "Who 
is he that condemneth ? It is Christ that died, 
yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the 
right hand of God, who also maketh intercession 
for us " Here we have the strong foundation on 
which the dying saint reposes. It is not in " works 
of righteousness which he has done," but solely in 
the " righteousness of Christ imputed to him, and 



144 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

received by faith alone." This is the rock on which 
he rests as the dark flood rises around him. When 
the body is a wreck, and is falling away under the 
successive strokes of death's billows, to this rock of 
salvation does the soul cling, until the command is 
given that moors it safe on Canaan's happy shores. 

Many do not contemplate death at all until they 
are forced into the narrow pass, and then all is wild 
amazement or downright insensibility. The hopes of 
recovery occupy the mind until, by the action of the 
disease ; it is so far incapacitated for reflection as to 
entertain no distinct notions of death or of its conse- 
quences. In such cases., a willingness to die may be 
mistaken for Christian resignation, and the stupid 
ity which precedes death is misnamed submission. 

But piety does more than make the soul willing 
to go, it often begets an intense longing " to depart 
and to be with Christ, which is far better." Every 
thing that relates to the closing scene is well 
adapted to give the impression of its power to sus- 
tain and to comfort the soul. " Come." said Addi- 
son to a young nobleman, " and see how a Chris- 
tian can die." And says Dr. Young, 

11 The chamber where the good man meets his fate 
Is privileged beyond the common walk 
Of virtuous life, quite in the verge of heaven ! 
His comforters he comforts: great in ruin, 
With unreluctant grandeur, gives, not yields 
His soul subL. 



JOY IN DEATH. 145 

" Sweet peace, and heavenly hope, and humble j oy, 
Divinely beam on his exalted soul, 
Destruction gild, and crown him for the skies, 
With incommunicable lustre bright." 

The triumph of piety in the last hour is more evi- 
dent in the positive desire to go, than in the mere 
willingness to die. As Dr. Young has beautifully 
expressed it, the Christian "gives, not yields, his 
soul sublime." When a mere worldling is brought 
to the bed of death, there may he a constitutional 
hardihood which sustains the mind in some degree 
of equanimity, or there may be in the action of the 
disorder such intense bodily sufferings as to extort 
the wish that God would put an end to them even 
by death. But is there any triumph here, or is 
there in this case any desire to depart founded on 
the bright visions of faith ? No ; alas, all is forced 
submission, and the wish to die is grounded simply 
on the insupportable suffering which is laid upon 
the body. 

How different are the Christian's emotions in 
death. There is something of positive good beyond 
the grave which engages his thoughts and awakens 
the desire to be gone. It is a view of the new Jeru- 
salem, the soul's happy home, that kindles in the 
dying eye that almost supernatural light, and in- 
fuses into the spirit such a sublime composure, as it 
adjusts itself for its glorious flight. Who but the 

Who are Happy 1 1 Q 



[46 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

Christian has ever "been found longing to depart ? 
Others may submit to this necessity, but he rejoices 
in the hour of liberation. Others may be willing 
to die, because they have nothing to live for, or be- 
cause they prefer death, regardless of its awful con- 
sequences, to anguish so insupportable ; but the 
Christian's views are of a sublimer cast. He has 
the air of a conqueror. He often meets the last 
enemy with alacrity, and says, with lips almost 
cold in death, " Thanks be unto God, which giveth 
me the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 

Whatever disadvantages religion may be sup- 
posed to have in health or in seasons of worldly 
prosperity, her claims must be admitted when the 
health is broken and that world of vanities is reced- 
ing on the dying eye. But if her blessings are set at 
naught in health, and when their adoption in view 
of rival claims would prove the soul's decided pref- 
erence and its well-founded hope, if then they are 
despised and worldly pleasure is pursued, there is 
little probability she will hear the dying sinner's 
cry, and place under his sinking soul her eternal 
arms. " If ye would die the death, live ye the life 
of the righteous." You cannot travel in a different 
road and reach the same glorious end. 

But some may say, that while this triumphant 
death is occasionally witnessed, there are many ex- 
ceptions, and that Christians do lot always pass the 



JOY IN DEATH. 147 

.dark valley with such exulting songs. It is true, 
that God does not give his chosen ones a uniform or 
an equal joy in death. Indeed, sometimes they are 
hurried away without a moment's warning. There 
are instances in which, from the influence of dis* 
ease or some constitutional timidity, there will 
seem to gather around the soul dark shadows to 
obscure its vision. Nor can we anticipate the pre- 
cise emotions of the pious soul until they are expe- 
rienced. The life is the great criterion. But sel- 
dom, however, do we' see a Christian die without 
some sweet intimations of his future felicity. If 
faith is not triumphant, it is sufficiently strong to 
give peace. If there are no enrapturing foretastes 
of heaven, there is a good hope through grace of 
its fruition. 

When Bunyan's pilgrims are passing the river of 
death, and have reached the midway current, Chris- 
tian is represented as sinking, and Hopeful as bear- 
ing him triumphantly along ; but soon they both 
reach the opposite shore, and are welcomed by the 
celestial messengers. The great allegorist intended 
by this, no doubt, to represent the inequality of joy 
and triumph which Christians experience in the 
hour of death; but the end with all is the same. 
The dark waters may intimidate, but cannot over- 
whelm the soul. There may be some misgivings, 
but never can faith be disappointed, nor Christian 



118 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

hope sink in despair. All will be well at last> 
The bright shores of heaven will be reached in 
safety, and the soul, conducted by " shining ones," 
shall enter the gates of the new Jerusalem, and 
forget all its sorrows in the enjoyment of its ever- 
lasting rest 



CONCLUSION 149 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

CONCLUSION. 

Is not the reader prepared now to say, " Let me 
both live the life and die the death of the right- 
eous?" Is it not evident, that if in a Christian's 
death there is something to be coveted, there is also 
in his life that which claims our imitation ? 

We have aimed to rescue piety from the charge 
of making her votaries gloomy. We have endeav- 
ored to exhibit her influence where it is allowed an 
unobstructed sway, as producing in the soul a " joy 
that is unspeakable." The impediments to this 
joy, especially such as exist in our day and country, 
have been dwelt upon principally with the design 
of cautioning Christians against them ; and some 
circumstances favorable to the development of pious 
joy have also been noticed, in order that they may 
be fully appreciated and improved. 

As the mind glances back over the whole ground, 
what is the practical impression ? What benefit, 
dear reader, is to accrue to thy soul from these 
considerations ? Shall the book be closed without 
one holy resolution or one renewed struggle for the 
kingdom of heaven ? Shall it be like a vision of 
the night that is gone when the eye opens upon 



150 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

earthly scenes, and that, whether joyous or sad, is 
viewed only as a dream ? Do you expect, after its 
perusal, to go forth into the world with the same 
unguarded heart, or without breathing up to (rod 
one additional prayer for his protection? Is this 
little volume to plant not one fragrant flower in 
your future path, nor brighten your spiritual hori- 
zon with one beaming star ? Then indeed has it, as 
it respects any good to you, been written and read 
in vain. But we will hope "better things of you, 
and things that accompany salvation." 

Are you a professor of religion, one by whom the 
sacred name of Christ has been named ? Then 
may we hope that the perusal of these pages will 
have strengthened what is good in the soul, and will 
lead you to unremitted efforts under God for still 
greater attainments. You must be convinced that 
piety will not make you happy in life, nor trium- 
phant in death, if you allow her not her legitimate 
influence. She will not suffer the market-men and 
money-changers to sit with her in the temple. She 
must be the sole divinity, or she will not preside at 
all. God and mammon can never occupy the same 
heart. Settle it in your mind that all compromise 
for worldly gain or pleasure is the death of pious 
joy. That amaranthine flower grows only on Zion's 
hill, and he who plucks it must toil up the steep 
ascent, and leave the dull earth far behind him. 



CONCLUSION. 151 

If you have been led astray, now is the time to 
retrace your steps. As the sigh of recollected hut 
departed joys heaves your bosom, seize the favored 
moment to plead with God that these "joys of sal- 
vation" may be restored. 

It is time that Christians evinced more of the 
attractive features of their religion. Its power to 
make them happy is but seldom adequately tested. 
We have to appeal too often to the fears only of the 
impenitent. We ought to wear so heavenly an as- 
pect as to convince them of our superior happiness, 
and to compel them to admit, that in the comparison 
their grovelling pleasures are empty and unsatisfy- 
ing. How can we expect them to concede to the 
beauty — I had almost said to the reality — of our 
religion, if its loveliest fruits are not exhibited ? 
Are we willing that souls should be repelled from 
the path of life because we have obstructed its en- 
trance, and withered every fragrant plant that grew 
around its gateway ? Shall that which was given 
as to attract men to heaven, prove the perverted in- 
strument of driving them down to hell ? Shall our 
lamp go out, or burn so dimly as scarce to direct 
our oivn steps, while for the want of its light thou- 
sands are " stumbling on the dark mountains ?" 
Christian reader, ask and answer these questions to 
your own soul. 

Or is my reader not only not a professa?' of relig 



152 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

ion, but one the convictions of whose conscience 
assure him that he is not a possessor' of true piety ? 
Allow me to ask, if the perusal of these pages has 
not convinced you of at least one practical error : 
I mean the very common impression that *nety robs 
us of joy and felicity ? Perhaps you have not fall 
en into this error. It may be that some very favor- 
able specimens of living piety have come under 
your observation, and convinced you that true and 
substantial joy cannot be experienced apart from 
religion. Is this your conviction ? Why then do 
you remain where you are ? Why attempt to fill 
yourself with husks, when " in your Father's house 
there is bread enough and to spare ?" 

But if you have stood off at a distance from re- 
ligion, and taken your impressions of its influence 
from some merely nominal professors, or from some 
who, though truly pious, were afflicted with a con- 
stitutional melancholy, it is to be hoped that you 
will not any more charge upon religion what be- 
longs to some accidental circumstance in connection 
with it, or what belongs to our remaining depravity 
or what ought in some instances to be charged to 
downright hypocrisy. You must have seen that 
the Christian, with all his admitted failings, is the 
only happy man. His religion, where it is not ob- 
structed, pours sunshine into his soul ; it makes 
life's joys doubly precious, and life's burdens easy 



CONCLUSION f53 

to be borne. And in death, who has the advan- 
tage then ? Whose dying pillow is softest ? Whose 
dying eye is brightest ? Whose prospects for eter- 
nity are the most alluring ? 

Take what view you will of this subject, behold 
the Christian when and where you will, it must be 
admitted that to him belongs the only foundation 
of true and substantial joy. With this concession, 
let me ask you, what are your own expectations of 
happiness ? Are you hoping to find it in the indul- 
gence of the animal desires ? Do the pleasures of 
sense put in a successful claim ? Ah, how often 
has the cup been mixed ! Perhaps as it touched 
the lip a momentary pleasure flashed through the 
veins, but the soul exclaimed, " This is not happi- 
ness." 

You have tried social bliss. Under the excite- 
ment of kindred minds you have seemed to enjoy 
the scene ; but solitude has come, and in that soli- 
tude there was a voice that still spoke of misery. 

You have been impelled by the thirst of gain ; 
your success has been all that you anticipated, 
Or you have " loved the praise of men," and have 
obtained it. But as the fancied reward came into 
your hand, has not the unsatisfied soul still asked, 
"Is£/mall?" 

Every path which you have trod has failed to 
conduct you to the long-desired rest. Why is this ? 



154 WHO ARE THE HAPPY? 

Because you have refused the only hand that can 
conduct you to that rest. You have expected to 
find happiness in indulgence, whereas it is to be 
found in self-denial. You have looked for it in the 
pleasures of the world, when it is to be obtained 
by overcoming the world. You have shrunk from 
the cross of Jesus, when that very cross leads him 
who bears it to heaven's unending joys. The lowly 
spirit you have not sought ; the tear of penitence 
you have not shed ; the love of Jesus you have not 
felt ; the hope of heaven has not dawned on youi 
benighted soul, nor the Spirit of God breathed his 
peaceful influence there. How then can you be 
happy ? " There is no peace, saith my Grod, to the 
wicked." If you would be at peace, you must gc 
where alone it can be found ; and " forsaking all to 
obtain all," you must adopt the spirit of the Chris* 
tian poet : 

' : Now I renounce my carnal hope, 
My fond desires recall ; 
I give my mortal interest up, 
And make my God my all." 



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